High Rise
by Kureiji-Kurai
Summary: Darcy is thrown into the deep end when she becomes the liaison between high powered business tycoons. Loki Odinson and Tony Stark proceed to make her life a pandora's box of problems in their dealings. Working with the chaotic master might prove to be more than her sanity can endure but she will not go down easily. If she falls, by the stars, she will pull them with her! Then again
1. First Day

**~=High Rise=~**

_First Day_

_*Marvel_

_*Loki Odinson and Darcy Lewis_

_AN: This is AU with there never having been an Asgard of myth, no magical world of any sort, just the modern day usual world. Loki is human, though still BA and powerful, just in the human way. I did hint at Avengers and TDW but in non-magicy ways. But Loki is technically "ruling" so I guess this would be after TDW but it's kind of Thor 1 as well._

* * *

Slender fingers tucked a long, dark wave of effortless-no, carefully fixed, sprayed, gelled, and made to seem effortless-curl off a soft, curved cheekbone that had taken far too much makeup treatment for one day but you could never tell by looking. Darcy Lewis, the young, feminine, beautifully spunky attorney was on the rise, figuratively a well as literally, at the present.

The "on the rise" part was making her very nervous at the moment which was why she spent hours previously making every strand of hair, every eyelash, every button or pleat, and every brush of powder perfect to give her the tiniest bit more confidence ... in hopes tiny would be enough to cover her terror. On the rise had a big way of falling flat, meaning a bloody, greasy spot at the bottom of a cliff. Never a good look on anyone!

Of all the men, places, times, and assignments she could have been handed this would never have been on her list of hopes. She was quite sure her boss, genius, cutthroat, Tony Stark, had it out for her when he told her this was her new case. Her law firm, S.H.I.E.L.D - the meaning of which the acronym long ago escaped her - worked largely for Stark industries; meaning he could ask for favors and get what he wanted because he had more money than the ocean had fish. She tended to think of him as her boss as much as she did director Fury.

Darcy took in an unintentionally shaky breath as her high heels clicked along the chilly marble floor, glass walls on each side of her not only increasing the echoing but adding to her nervousness every time she dared let herself look down to the street below. Walking through the glass hallway made her feel like a fish swimming in dangerous waters or maybe like those people that walked in the under water tunnel with those sharks just outside and if the glass ever broke... Yeah.

Who built this stuff anyway? Why did they build hallways to connect two buildings with **GLASS** when it was several stories up? Sure, she knew there was metal too, but why build something like this at all? Problem waiting to happen.  
Being up high was honestly the smallest issue she had to worry about though and that was just sad. Her main issue was her would be business appointment and soon to be "_buddy_" besides Stark until this was over, which could never come too soon for her after looking in depth into the man she had to work with for the next month. _Loki Odinson_, a cutthroat above even Stark or the rest.

That man took down businesses and people like it was child's play. He single handedly "dethroned" the big man of Asgard Incorporate, not to mention his own father. The self made lord of conflict and deception pulled the proverbial rug out from under his well feared father and the intended successor of the company, his older brother, in a single brilliant takeover that broadsided the entire industry. She did not know all the details but she heard plenty about his unforseen magic act.

He was a shark with a mouth full of teeth if ever there was one and she had to take the plunge and swim with him. Stark told her to negotiate as well as watch his every move in this business deal. She was the spy of sorts, the negotiator, the hopeful peacekeeper. She was told to give Odinson anything he asked for, acquiesce to his whims, within reason or capability on Stark's side. Today was going to be horrible. She questioned Stark in his sanity for such an order but she would obey. They had a weird history so she knew things might be hectic.

It had not been that long ago that the young man tried to take over Stark Industry. It had taken Tony a lot of calling in favors, playing nice-ish with other big fish, and calling in some of the best guns in the entire business world, and maybe a little darker, to keep his company. Loki nearly brought it down to the ground and that was saying something when it involved the Teflon King himself. No one got the better of Stark but Loki almost had.

And little, wide eyed, still-learning-the-ropes Darcy had to try to match him and outsmart him. Perfect and so typical of life to hand her that just after things were going so well and she was getting in good with the business world.

Her lashes fluttered nervously a she closed her eyes, reaching for the door handle she wished she did not have to turn. The typical confidence and "sass" people said she had was taking a hard hit today and she had never felt more like a crab in a boiling pot in her life ... and she hadn't even walked into the man's office yet.

She did not want to be here but that never actually mattered in life, she learned that a long time ago. What you had to do and wanted to do were very rarely the same thing. She wanted to bolt and say forget it before her entire career was ruined and she ended up on the street; too bad she had never been smart enough to run and not be stubborn.

Better get it over with, she guessed.

Her carefully pressed pencil skirt brushed at her knees as she pushed through the door and confidently strolled to the desk with the pretty little blond, the type Stark would have sampled in his previous days before he grew up and opened his eyes to _Pepper_.  
"I'm here representing Stark-" Darcy began her crisp speech only to be cut off rudely by a typical receptionist tone informing her curtly that she was expected.

The brunette waltzed back to the large office she was pointed to before hesitating. Should she knock or would that make her seem timid? Better to seem too brazen than look as terrified as she was so she quickly decided to march in like she thought she owned that office. Heaven help her!

With more force than needed, she tossed the door open, shoulders squared and chin up. Vibrant, soft but tigeresque green eyes snapped up from his screen to greet her and her steps hitched in spite of herself. The Armani suit and expensive looking desk; and everything else expensive in the world; she expected but innocent features, high cheekbones, dark hair cut slightly on the long side; long enough to curl at the ends, just long enough to hover over the perfect shell of his ears ... not so much. Even seated he looked formidable behind that huge and ornate monster of a desk. She thought he would be older for all he'd done already but he was her age - god she hoped he wasn't younger, that would put her life into perspective fast.

He looked strangely innocent if you didn't notice his eyes, beautiful in color but sparking with poorly hidden malice and peril.  
"Ms. Lewis, I presume." A liquid silk, melted chocolate voice snarled carefully at her like he was trying to growl it out without seeming like he was growling; a picture in her mind of a wolf with a sheep skin surfaced just from his voice alone.

She had the instant feeling of being on the edge of a precipice or maybe stepping out on her bare feet on a very thin stretch of ice. "Mr. Odinson." Darcy returned the tone as well as she could but it never sounded as intimidating when she growled as when a man with a deeper voice did. She crossed the room like she did not secretly want to bolt right back the way she had come.

"Quite punctual..." His sharp eyes shot to the clock on the muted gray wall, "a little early even. Always a good sign on the first day."

She blinked at him, unsure what he wanted her to say. This was not a job interview, she already had the job so why was he acting like her performance could make or break this; then again, maybe he was right and she should watch her every step. No use letting him get her guard down just because his voice could melt ice with that subtle accent she could not quite place; she was very bad with accents, they all sounded nice and some sounded darn well the same to her so she knew better than to guess.

He leaned forward on his elbows, long fingers tenting under his chin as he starred at her from his seated position behind the dark wood desk; she did not miss the intentional slight of him not even extending the common courtesy of standing in greeting or even offering his hand to her. "How is Stark these days?"

Darcy kept her words crisp and short-why play sweet girl when he didn't give her reason, "Mr. Stark is quite well." If he had been nice she might have lied and said Tony sent his regards.

For the first time, those thin, sharp, curved lips smiled and she was shocked by how sweet he looked wearing such a face; he looked like a totally different person. "I am pleased to hear it."

Smiles would not get her that easy and she was very careful to keep her expression blank, "Mr. Odinson, what say you to ending any surface pleasant chatter for the moment and skipping to the reason I was sent?" The more on edge she was the more formally and abruptly to the point she became in her speech, it was a trait she learned to adopt rather than her old habit of running her mouth when nervous.

A slight touch of surprise flickered behind the shine of his eyes but he smiled again and nodded, "Very well, it's not as if we're fooling each other, now is it?" The smile grew a fraction darker with the lowering dip of his voice, his green eyes dancing with slightly terrifying interest. "You are here to convince me to agree to Stark's demands in our deal and I'm here to see how far I can push him...how much does he need me is the general question, how low he is willing to bow for this deal of the century between our companies, isn't it?"

Maybe, she had to think now, her decision to be blunt might have been ill advised considering the manner of man she was facing. "I'm not sure that would have been my choice of words, but in basic nature, you are correct."

His intonation dipped lower still as his volume sank to an intimidatingly quiet, secretive threat level, "My description might not have been your wording preference but it was no less accurate. We both know the motives behind cooperation, we both simply want to exploit the situation for our own gain, so I am relieved to see we can end the dance."

This man was frightening when you looked into his eyes,l ittle wonder people were uncomfortable with him.

"Then please," Darcy plunged ahead for lack of any other way to precede now that she expertly just ensured her first day was going to be horrible, "allow me to say that Stark Industry seeks a pleasant negotiation ... however, we are prepared for anything considering past history." There, she got that bombshell out of the way! "We have our interests as you have yours so it would be nice if both parties came away happy but that does not always happen.

She smiled sweetly to soften her words but they were no less true, and if he thought she would back down, he was crazy, "Do understand though, Mr. Odinson, we will not come away with less than we deserve. Mr. Stark does not make it a habit to get less than what he asks."

She just shot herself in the face in less than five whole minutes in his office and she had no idea why she had done it! He looked quizzical but combative and this was going to be the worst first day she had ever had in any job ... and she did it to herself in her desperation to seem tough. If he made her cry in the following five minutes she would neither be shocked or undeserving with the killer ground work she just set down.

"I will keep that in mind but please understand that I am also not accustomed to getting less than _my_ way. Deals have a _tendency_ to go according to my wishes." He simply purred at her.

"Not when it comes to Stark Industries, I have heard." Even her eyes widened at her own obvious declaration of war, someone save this traitorous tongue of hers, please! What was she doing? Good heavens! Why did she not _**shut up**_?

Loki's expression was wholly blank for a moment before he leaned back in his chair and chuckled, a dark sound that sent a chill up her spine, "Well then, we will see which of us has a stronger will, Ms. Lewis." He waved at the leather couch in the corner, "I just decided that I would like the first counter offer before you leave today. You may work over there."

_Oh, ouch... it was going to be worse than she thought._

"Don't bother me too much with questions, some of us have other deals to attend while you are here. I am a busy man. You will have your time well occupied as you go through the paperwork I have prepared for you."

Deciding she let her mouth go wild enough for one day she simply nodded, reached into her briefcase to set her own stack of papers on his desk and meekly moved to the couch. A very thick stack of papers was perched on the stand next to it and she set to work on them in utter silence. He did not so much as glance her way again as he worked across the room, lithe fingers tapping away at the computer.

His office was huge, a far cry from her own little cubicle. She would have preferred he stashed her in an out of the way closet rather than sticking her on his couch. It was unnerving to be trapped in the same room with him without a desk to hide behind. She felt like the awkward little freshman allowed to observe real business for a day as an assignment for extra credit. Knowing he was a strategist, that could easily be it, him letting her know that she was on his territory and she was in the way. It would not have shocked her if he were trying to intimidate her and put her in her place by not even offering her any space of her own even though she knew this building had it.

The cold atmosphere of gray, black and white decor was enough to signal everyone that he did not invite them to stay. The display weapons carefully placed on shelves and a couple mounted on the walls sent a rather clear message too.

He was a blade guy, an expensive hobby judging by the amount of metal in the sword above her head.

She shifted on the couch, cringing at the noise it caused. She hated leather for that. The papers were already starting to blanket her lap and the reaching surface of the couch. There wasn't even a table to set a drink on. Her lap would have to be enough even though it made this so much harder. She shot Stark and Fury a quick summary of Odinson's request to let them know what to expect, to which Tony repeated his earlier statement of; "keep him happy."

This was loathsome but there was no way she would complain. Darcy just stuck her pen between her teeth as she flipped through the pages, scribbling when needed or circling parts she wanted to bring up in conversation later. She wanted to read through everything at least twice before she dared speak to Odinson or Stark so she knew the material.

It did not even register that time was moving by until Loki picked up the phone and ordered himself a late lunch. She noticed that he pointedly did not offer her anything nor did he suggest she take a break. His lunch came and she made sure not to look up even once. She made no obvious sign she knew he was alive even as he consumed his Chinese - which smelled amazing - and simply kept on scribbling away. She had her legal pad out by now and she was furiously writing all her little notes and suggestions and issues with the conditions. Her ipad perched on one knee while the papers continued to spread out around her, even pooling at her feet for lack of another place for them.

Loki was good at creating very appealing sounding terms but if you listened to the content it was blatantly obvious how many back door options he left for himself. For every offer and concession there were at least three ways she could think of that he could twist it to ensure he came out miles above Stark. That was not going to pass under her nose so easily! She intended to head him off at every pass!

Darcy was engrossed enough in finding all Loki's personal Easter eggs that she did not even notice when he began turning on the overhead lights nor did she notice it getting darker outside. One of her strengths and weaknesses was being a work addict, especially when the other party happened to piss her off.

Her eyes were killing her and she had to close them and remove her glasses several times but she tried to hide it. She was desperate for a drink since her coffee fix had been just before she got here but she dared not look at the clock. It had finally dawned on her two hours after he turned on the lights that it was darker outside but she ignored it, determined not to even consider leaving until he did and she did not care how late that was. She did not want to know what time it was, dreaded knowing even though her numb legs and even more numb hind end told her well enough. Her lower half was so far past tingling, it was just dead. Standing would be a challenge once he finally made a move.

Darcy nearly jumped out of her skin when that velvet voice hit her ears suddenly, "Ms. Lewis, perhaps you should take a break."

Her blue eyes darted up to look at him, annoyed that he did not look even slightly tired, "Thank you for your concern but I'm fine." She was back to a pleasant tongue, thankfully, despite her mood.

His green eyes showed a dull irritation for a moment, "You did not take a lunch, you should at least go get dinner."

Her full lips turned up in a smile, curious to know if he needed her to leave for some reason, an expected call perhaps, "I believe I will be fine. I skip lunch often. You know how easy it is to get wrapped up in things."

His thin but soft curving jaw set in hidden enmity and he said nothing for a minute, "Very well. I'm going out to the café on the second floor."

She noticed he did not invite her to join him but she nodded at him as he strolled past her. His legs were long, she observed, long and lanky. He was thinner than she originally thought, that suit hugging his straight waist and narrow hips.

Darcy twitched, eyes falling instantly to her ipad when it occurred to her that she was assessing his body. Not the best idea but she stopped herself before he would have had time to notice.

She did so much looking into his business life and none at all into his personal. It was lack of foresight on her part. Had she been smart she would have desensitized herself to his good looks but she had never been one to be easily taken in by a handsome face or sleek figure anyway.  
Thankfully she did not blush easy like a few of her friends did. When she was young she used to blush easily but she managed to school that.

The very second he closed the door behind him was the moment she shoved the papers of her lap to stand. Her legs were not ready for the act and she nearly fell back down. Numb did not even begin to cover the fact that she would not have even known she had legs if she did not **know** she had them. They moved when she focused but she could not feel them moving. Nothing below her waist felt real, it was more like she was floating on some thick clouds. She stretched her arms up over her head and tried to do a few yoga stretches but they were clumsy at best. It did feel better, though painful, to move again.

Her back and shoulders were knotted up. A couch was so not ideal for paperwork even though it seemed like it should be. It might have been all in the mind because she could sit on her own couch through several movies in a row and feel fine but put work in her hand and the body protested.

She could at least relax now that he was gone. When he was around she felt like she had to sit up straight and keep her posture perfect, which got old. There was no way to really tell if he was going to be gone a while or not. He seemed very much the type to tell one thing from those smooth lips and do something very different in order to throw off his opponent. He might be gone long enough to eat and make a call or he might walk back in after three second, no way to tell.

Still, good things did not come to the faint of heart so she took a stroll over to his desk to see what she might be able to uncover.

First thing he must have done before walking out was put his computer in hibernation and she was quite sure it would be password protected, there was no way a careful creature like him would do otherwise so the compute was out. The papers were a different story!

Just a glance at a few of the letterheads told her that this man was in bed with a lot of companies which was unsettling to say the least. He had his fingers in a lot of deals if a speed read of those letters was a judge. Stark needed to watch his back or he might be in for round two of another takeover try.

Then again, if any of this was secret there was no way that man would leave it out, not when a quick try of his desk drawers told her he locked everything before he left. If anything, he might have wanted her to see these.

Darcy was quick to move away from the desk just in case he returned so she opted for a further walk around the room to get a feel, however poor, for the man. He was a heavy reader of law judging by the different volumes of his shelves; everyone in her world had these, sometimes just for show, but she could tell that these had been used. When she slipped one out bravely she noticed some of the pages were dogeared or traced with various colors of liner. He used these alright.

She slipped it back into the hole and let her eyes travel over other titles. The other books, and he had many, were all of high reading stature. He had King Lear, Othello, The Canturbery Tales, Don Quixote, Hamlet, The Raven ... and all were some very expensive editions. These had not been marked but she could tell they had indeed been opened, so unless he got them at a garage sale, which she could not picture, nor could she see the father he betrayed giving them to him, the only answer was that he purchased them for pleasure. There was a scrap of paper peeking out of one, she noticed, like he had been in the middle of reading it and was interrupted.

He was intelligent to be able to read some of these in their very un-revised old English. Shakespeare was clearly a favorite on his shelf but so was Poe and several poets. Her fingers traveled over the shelves, not daring to touch these books because books of this kind were always private in her mind, but allowing herself a moment to admire. If not for the fact that he was cruel and heartless, she might have liked him for his taste.

Back in the day, the horrible years of high school, people made fun of the book worms. The girls with glasses got picked on by the cheerleaders and Jocks. It was funny how the world flipped when adulthood came around and suddenly reading was not pathetic but necessary and an attractive trait. Running with the big boys suddenly meant hanging with the guy with a brain rather than the boy with big muscles and little else. Youth taught you one thing while growing up taught you to know how stupid what you used to believe was.

People like she and this Loki were the ones that probably got picked on in youth...but look at them now! Here they were, running the lives of the people that used to bully them while the sport people were in manual labor, fast food, or the military if they got lucky. Life was interesting!  
Darcy found herself smiling, amused by her own thoughts and the strange fact that a book collection had her almost emphasizing with the jerk that owned the office.

"I gather you are a reader like myself, Ms. Lewis?"

Darcy jumped, only just swallowing a gasp as she whirled on the toes of her shoes to face the door. Her heart was doing some impressive acrobatics in her chest; she could thank her rare bouts of luck he caught her here and not at his desk; his arrival terrifying her even though she was doing something perfectly lawful. She honestly had not heard him open that door!

"How was dinner?" She blurted out, trying to hide her speeding pulse behind an indifferent face, ignoring his question.

He looked at her blankly but suddenly seemed to remember what he said to her before and nodded - she was so right, he did not step out for food - going along with her, "I changed my mind, the menu did not fit my mood."

She nodded, looking down at the dark carpet, her hair falling like a curtain to hide her face for a calming few second before she looked up again.  
Time to go back to the torture couch, she thought with displeasure. They wordlessl returned to the places they had been at all day. The chatter already over.

Darcy spent half an hour finishing formatting her suggestions and findings to Stark in a more condensed version, giving him a full update including a list of those companies in correspondence with Loki. After working ideas up in her head all day she was sure her counter offer was near bullet proof, or she hoped so, but Stark could make any changes he desired. It was a long message and longer file that he was sure to call a book later but from that he would be able to confirm or deny her ideas. Once he altered the counter offer she could finally call it a night and leave ... ready to come back tomorrow for the torture, she would see Stark, but he had the bulk of the issues in hand now to make his choices, the first of many. People like this never went down easy, they haggled back and forth endlessly in any deal.

Darcy arched her back, discreetly trying to stretch without being obvious while she waited on her employer to send her his proposal. The message sign lit up not moments later, much too soon for even that man to finish a counter offer even with all her work, unless he changed nothing at all, so she frowned at her screen before opening it.

Her expression darkened considerably but she collected herself quickly in case her office-mate looked over. Stark really did have it out for her!

He responded in nearly a one word answer and an order to bring the documents to his office. She hated it when he hardly made an effort to seem interested or listen to anything she said. He had no intention of giving Loki an answer by or before seven, it looked like, yet he told her to comply with the enemy anyway. He could have told her that to start with! It would have been nice to know Stark planned to play rough before she spent all day trying to finish this in the cave of the devil!

What was he playing at? He must have been enjoying forcing her to stay here when he knew he never planned to give Loki an answer when he wanted it. Give him anything he wants, comply ... right!

"I will need to confer with Stark personally this evening to give you a more conducive response, but," She stood up, papers gathered once again into a neat stack, and walked to his desk. "for now, my hand written notes will have to suffice. They will give you a fair idea what we propose."

His green eyes narrowed as he took the carefully torn out legal pad pages from her outstretched hand, "Just your notes?"

"As I said, I will be going to Stark industry from here to speak with the others before I can give you a final word tomorrow morning."

"Unprofessional, giving me hand written scribbles. I take it you are woefully unprepared for this task or you're too inexperienced. I already asked you for the counter offer before the end of the day, to which you agreed. If you could not do it and were not up to it you should have said so." He meet her eyes with a challenge.

Darcy wanted to give him a slap-or maybe a slap for him and a slap for Stark- but she smiled instead, "I wrote as clearly as possible. I will have the official counter to you this evening if you feel waiting until tomorrow is detrimental."

"We agreed on today, before you left my office, in fact. Stark could send it to my secretary before you leave." He arched a delicate brow at her, "Why did Stark suddenly change his mind? Did you not inform him of my condition?"

These two were playing company tug-of-war and they had made her the rope, "You would have to ask him but I'm sure it is not going to delay you in any way." She should have just walked out with her notes without a word rather than trying to be nice!

"I'm asking _you_, why did you agree to my terms when you did not plan to comply? Are you brazen or incompetent?"

Everything in her wanted to jump over that desk and lash out but she ignored the desire, "I will forward the documents to you after they are finalized. Have a good evening, Mr. Odinson."

Her reputation was taking hits already and it was only the first day! She did the singular thing she could do other than cry and simply walked out with her briefcase in hand and chin up.

Her heels clicked down the hall as she tried not to break into a dead run, tried to look composed and professional as she left.  
Stark was her client so she could not pin this on him, thus could not defend herself for ignoring the terms set before her. It did not matter to either Stark or Loki what became of her after this deal. What worried her was that Loki would have no compunction about ruining her reputation and it was only going to get worse from here.

They were going to be the death of her!


	2. Downpour

**~=High Rise=~**

_Downpour _

_*Marvel_

_*Loki Odinson, Darcy Lewis, Tony Stark_

_AN: Hey, so happy you guys like it so far! Hope I live up to your hopes and dreams! _

_I love writing Darcy's pov! It's so much fun! Loki's pov always is more eloquent and dark in my mind, brooding and morbid where hers is lighter and full of random tangents I feel her mind would take her on even though she is a professional. Anyway, yes, if you hadn't guessed, this is tasertricks. The rating might go up later on but I think T is good for now. Just to be clear, I think Loki and Thor (when he drops in) would have hair no longer than in the first movie because it is the business world. TDW would be too long for wall street. Oh, and Tony is not Iron Man in this, just a normal crazy rich guy that invents stuff._

* * *

The taxi ride to Stark Tower left her with nothing to do but think and inevitably seethe like a boiling tea pot. It really had not helped that it began raining almost the minute she left Odinson. She had to stand on the corner waving frantically to be noticed; she had always been a little short and heels weren't always enough on the street where crowds passed you by, especially when rain hit. Her bad mood had turned into a near panic attack before turning to rage.

The drenched clothing made her cold and she could not help shivering like she used to when she was a little girl and had stayed out too long in the snow playing. Making snow angels seemed a lot more worth while than her entire day today. Her teeth chattered just a little bit, which she really hated - she hated that feeling when her jaw just refused to keep still and nothing she did would change it. It made her feel even less in control. Being a kid was so much easier. Why did people have to grow up and become jerks? At least the rotten kid in the sand box that stole everyone's toys had to give them back when his mother caught him, and at least that did not ruin lives forever, it just made the little kids cry.

She suddenly really felt like crying but this was a taxi, not her room, and she never cried unless it was behind the safety of her thick door. Loki probably could make her cry though. He was that type that she was sure took pleasure in things like that and might make a conscious effort in if he thought it would work on someone.

Man, she needed to perk up!

Futilely she tried to make her wet hair look less than hideous but there was little she could do about her clothing or how it clung to her uncomfortably. Her hair looked as black as Loki's when it was wet. Her bra was showing a little through the soaked fabric. She really hoped her driver was not a mass murdered that picked up girls with large boobs as victims. He did not seemed to notice her, so that was good, even if it made her feel strangely insulted.

If Tony made a comment about her bra though, honestly, she would pick up his paperweight and bash in his skull. In this mood, that sounded like a good idea.

She wanted to murder Tony twice as much as Loki. She worked for Stark, they were supposed to be on the same side, he was supposed to work _with_ her! Her reputation was already crumbling like sand through her fingers. Lawyers relied on their reputation more than anyone knew. If you were good and professional and always kept your word, people knew. If you habitually missed deadlines, did not examine documents carefully, or were careless in other ways, people knew that too. She had been very careful to build her reputation since the beginning but she had a terrible feeling that it was taking damage.

Stark and Odinson were two of a kind; both ego maniacs, both stubborn like two year old's, both too smart for their own good, both full till divas! These were her bosses and they would be fighting like high school cheerleaders over the position of prom queen! That left her in the unfortunate middle exactly where she knew she would end up when this started. Those two would inevitably get what they wanted and they would walk all over her to do it. They had nothing to loose as powerful as they each were, but she, the new rising girl in this business, had an entire career to watch crumble. She still had student loans! She still had to make a name for herself! She still had to be credible after this was over! She should have expected to be tossed around between them.

By the time to cab stopped, she paid, and rushed through to glass doors, she was no less calm. Most of the workers here had left for the day. It was a skeleton group left with only the real workaholics. Looking at them in their offices was depressing. She could not even let herself think of what the coming days would lead to, it was also depressing.

Tony Stark was in his dimly lit office, dressed in an expensive but slightly rumpled suit; wrinkled from him crawling around with his gadgets all day, no doubt; fiddling with something mechanical when Darcy walked in. He hardly spared her a glance before holding out his hand for the papers-what was she, a paper boy?-which she slapped into his hand with force. It made a loud sound but she doubted it hurt but she wished it had. They were not drowned like she was, her bag kept them water free but she considered rubbing her hair on them before handing them over. She should have!

Darcy was seething inwardly but doing her level best not to show it. She learned ages ago that you had to wear a mask with these people or you didn't survive. "You recorded my findings. What was it you needed to speak with me about?" Her words were clipped and dripped with her irritation but he did not seem to notice, nor even look at her.

"Yeah, your notes were spot on. He was leaving back doors the size of planets and hoping we wouldn't notice." His dark eyes traveled over the pages she had originally taken from Odinson, running a hand through his thick, short brown hair. "I made a few changes to yours but I was pleasantly surprised, you did pretty well covering it. Not too much slipped by you."

Darcy never cared much for back-handed complements. She had about all the comments she could take for one day. "If it is ready then I will take it to him now."

"No, wait till tomorrow afternoon." His dry, no nonsense, bored voice contradicted her instantly.

"I thought you said you had finished revising it." Darcy mumbled, too tired to deal with this. "We agreed to finish the first offer today and give it back to him with enough time to look at it before tomorrow."

"I know. He still gets it tomorrow afternoon. Why should we rush on his account? He's just playing games." Stark huffed, still not bothering to so much as glance at her, "The only games I like to play are my own."

Darcy let out a slow breath as her fingers curled into fists. "We agreed to have it finished, we can't simply not give it to him. It is finished so the logical thing would be to proceed with expediency. A swift moving time frame is beneficial to all involved."

Finally his sharp brown eyes turned on her, "I think I know the in's and out's, this is my deal after all." He eyed her like a pompous teacher would the new kid in class.

"I realize that, Mr. Stark, but what do you hope to gain by postponing? Isn't it better to proceed quickly before he finds someone else?"

"There are no other deals, he has no other options, I'm it and I want to make him sweat."

Egos were abounding!

"That might be true but I still see no purpose in delay for either side. This is a large deal for both sides."

He cocked his head to one side and lifted a glass off the table, content likely to be brandy, "You work for me, remember? This is a merger between a small company I own and a smaller company he owns. Together, they make more money than rain in the rain forest. I know what it is, sweet heart."

Patronizing, now he was patronizing her and it took all her will not to raise her voice or glare, "May I ask why you agreed to have our first draft finished today then?"

Stark's expression softened, "Oh, right, I guess I did put you in an awkward position today. I should have given you more of a heads up on what I wanted." He took a drink, the ice in his cup clicking to the side, "I'll try to remember to clue you in next time. I'm not letting this guy set the pace though, he has to learn that I set it, and he'll have to work around me, not the other way around." A piece of ice snapped under the pressure of his teeth as he chewed it absently while speaking, "I don't need him getting ideas again, thinking he can run my show."

Darcy nodded as if she agreed even though she found two men trying to figuratively arm wrestle by proxy to be senseless, there was little she could say.

Stark chuckled dryly, "You're not tracking with me, I can tell. You don't understand my world."

Her blue eyes flashed in anger and she opened her mouth to refute the allegation against her intelligence but he cut across her.

"Right now we are using dual distribution, whereas, exclusive distribution would be more cost effective and efficient; no more waist of time and money for either of us." Tony took a quick drink, "But, then we would have to decide who gets the baby, mom or dad? And what if neither of us want to give up the kid?" He motioned at her with the glass, "So, to avoid fighting brands, and the forced competition costing us money and wasted material, the logical step is what?"

"Horizontal Merger. A new line with joint ownership of the original, partnering two trusted brands into one to hit both target groups. New and updated, bigger building to expand to cut the cost of maintaining both original locations." Darcy was mumbling, annoyed that he was acting as if he was teaching her something totally new.

"Bingo, babe. But we're a couple of stubborn guys that want to keep all the perks for ourselves."

"I've noticed." Her eyes fell to the floor as she tried not to spit out any other more insulting comments.

He ignored her jab and plowed ahead, "So how do I stay on top?" Both hands flew at her, his drink almost spilling in his enthusiasm, "I prove to him that I say what he gets, when he gets it, and how much. The punk has to learn that what he wants doesn't count, what I want does. I'll make him wait a year if I want to! He's my bitch, not the other way around."

All she did was nod, not trusting herself to say anything.

"Now you understand so we should do fine in the future." He took a drink and said, "Thanks for understanding, babe."

Every fiber of her body wanted to snap at him and tell him she was not his "babe" but she knew he did it to everyone to get a rise. "Do you have a hard copy of the papers or do you want to send it to me to print?"

He reached back behind him and then tossed her a flash drive, and she was impressed with herself for catching it. She muttered a thanks and offered him a crisp "have a good evening" before starting for the door.

"Hey," Tony waved a hand at her to come back, "By the way, what's with the grunge, drowned look? It's a nice bra, very sexy, but I think you're taking it a little far. Not super professional." He was smirking at his own humor, "I told you to accommodate him but you don't have to go that far, I promise."

"It was raining! I didn't have an umbrella!" Her voice had risen several decibels and she was fairly sure the people downstairs heard her reply but she did not care.

He nodded in mock surprise and understanding, "Oh, so he didn't see that then?"

At that very moment she was quite sure she could have committed murder but she knew she would look horrible in those orange jumpers. In the logical part of her mind she knew perfectly well that he did that because he thrived off getting reactions; she had steadfastly stayed calm so far, which he could not stand. How did Pepper stand this? Instead of reaching for the nearest object to shove down his throat, she stormed out of his office without a word. Those two men really were one of a kind! They loved to say things to make others angry and push any button they could find. They were equally good at finding weaknesses and pinpointing which buttons would work best. A terrible ability, not for them, but for everyone else! At least, she had to give Loki one point for never having made comments like that to her, yet at least.

* * *

The rain had not let up in the slightest, it might have become an even more fervent storm in the passing time. It had stopped mattering to her once she was headed away from those men. Anything had been fine as long as it meant she was going to her nice, plush, comfy, cozy, warm haven for all things soft. Her biggest weakness in life was fleece, silk, velvet, velutinous items and on days like this she was glad she indulged.

Once Darcy was home she headed right for a bath. It warmed her but did not manage to calm her down even though she used the lavender scented bubbles. What it did do was give her more time to think and time to decide exactly how she intended to handle the two spoiled brats. Her decision was to ignore most of everything they said. If it was not logical, she would do it her way without telling them. They were behaving like children so she would be the adult in the group; moreover, she would poke right back at their swollen egos. Maybe her motives were a little out of anger and spite too, but she planned to play them each as much as they had been playing her. Two, or three in this case, could play that game. They had weak spots too, everyone did!

Tony had no right to jeopardize her reputation like that. He had no right to keep her in the dark when she was the one taking all the risks. As her boss he was supposed to take care of her as much as she took care of him. It was a team, them against the world sort of thing. They were supposed to keep each other's back but he wasn't going to do that so she would do it for herself. Stark could not honestly believe stalling would make Loki bow to his wishes and there was no way that man would be anyone's "bitch" whether Tony had that in mind or not. The idea of trying to out-jerk the other guy seemed more than stupid to her but maybe that was because she just wasn't the bitter and wrinkled old lawyers she ignored in her office yet.

As for Loki, he had no right to talk down to her. He had no right to look down his nose and demand stupid, impractical things of her while chaining her to his couch. She might not have had his money and might not have owned a company she stole from her father, but that did not mean she was lesser than he was. She might have been afraid of him but she was her own woman! This deal was helping him too so there was no reason for him to treat her like she had a huge "A" sown to the front of her dress.

Her fuzzy towel worked over her hair as she fluffed and preened at it. She felt better now that she was not in damp clothing. Drenched cold was the worst kind. She analyzed herself in the large wall mounted mirror, practicing her faces for Odinson and Stark with a few funny faces mixed in. She was no Icarus but she did enjoy mirrors. With some mental prep work she could face them both tomorrow and never break character.

She could and would play their game and match them at it! The next day would be different because she was not going to walk in there blind, she was not going to trust Stark to work with her, and she was going to find ways to exploit those two and shut them up. Her side was neither side even if she did work at S.H.I.E.L.D. Darcy Lewis now worked for the good of that new company, not them; at least, that would be how she attacked it tomorrow. Now she worked for the common good of all those consumers that purchased those products. This was for her country-alright, she she was going a little over the top with that, but it really helped her mindset.

With her super downy robe in place around her, she padded into her room and dropped into her chair. She flipped her computer open and inserted the drive with Stark's revisions. After a quick scan of it she smiled, more pleased than she should have been at how few changes there had been to her original, she almost expected more because of who he was. At least she had done that right on her first day at the inquisition.

Next, she opened a window of communication to Odinson. He was very likely home by now so he would not see it until morning but she could say in technicality that she got it to him at the end of the day and she could tell Stark she gave it to him tomorrow because him seeing it tomorrow was almost the same as handing it over then. It worked in her mind. She was not playing their games by their rules anymore. These were her rules now and she was going to be the middle ground to the king's of drama. That in mind she attached the file and sent it to his personal mail. The second she pushed send her shoulders sagged with relief. That was one thing off her shoulders at long last. Now she could go to bed feeling a little less horrible.

Her fingers rubbed at her temples slowly. This day had given her a headache that could cross her eyes. Her bed was looking beautiful after maybe a couple aspirin. Yeah, that sounded really good. Her nice pillow top bed and warm covers would do wonders.

* * *

The office was getting chilled with the cool of the rain settling over the building with a quiet creep like death descending. The soft sound of the rain against the glass and sill was a lull to his tense muscles. Lights were being turned off in procession all over the building, leaving him in progressing darkness as the people filtered out. He brushed a few feathered strands of hair back into place as he stared, transfixed, out at the street below. He hugged his arms to his midsection as his gaze turned up to the mournful, dark sky.

Loki never had cared much for rain storms but they did have a particular allotment for beauty in the sound and way the water fell. Things that were dark or cruel often had a strange tendency to hold equal beauty to their nature. His lashes twined together as he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the freezing cold window.

Stark's liaison had been caught in the rain. Her makeup must have been waterproof too because it did not leave black streaks down her face or give her the raccoon look. It had been amusing to watch her pace in the crowd, flitting about like a wounded bird, trying to get the attention of any cab she could.

That girl was something, unique and interesting where he was used to predictability. She managed to surprise him more than once with her ample spirit and direct word choices. Her big blue eyes betrayed a sharp mind behind her shy stance and evasive answers to questions. It felt like he had miscalculated moves on more than one occasion in regards to her actions, which was a rarity for him. There were few people he could say that about.

Her sporadic ways confused him at some turns the way she managed to adjust and shift so quickly to her situations. He supposed he would say she was innocent with sprinklings of cunning, witty with foolish tendencies, determinedly focused with leanings to impetuosity. For the most part, beyond her blunt beginning, he could have mistaken her for meek, but he could tell she had fire in her. She controlled the fire but not so well he could not see it. There was something about her that reminded him of someone but he could not quite decide who.

Maybe in some distant, disconnected, strange way the Lewis girl shared similar traits in personality with his mother. He heard how she was when she was young; strong, tenacious, brilliant, keen, sly, but kind and nearly magical like a queen. His father once said she was perfervid, vivacious, and valiant; for that man to shower praise so adoringly it was obvious he fell in love with her because she was unmatched and as near perfect as could be. When she was young though, he could see her having come into his father's office and trouncing him with the same spirit Darcy had told him to stop playacting. She had been a powerful woman all her own, which was why she could hold three dauntless men still and quiet at the dinner table, and make two mischievous boys behave a expensive parties. He imagined she might have been like this girl in some ways, though far superior, but he hated that reminder.

What he wouldn't give to have his mother back! He would pay every cent he had or ever would have if he could see her. The one and only person in the world that loved him, his saving grace, his comforter and encourager had been taken away to the heavens some time ago. He had been alone ever since. There was hardly a day he did not feel her absence and the raw hole it left within him. The loss of her made living with his father and brother impossible.

The Golden haired "Prince" of Asgard Incorporate and the "King" were always so far away even if they were in the same room. He could not stand the numbing indifference directed at him while they stood shoulder to shoulder; he always ended up standing in the corner behind them somewhere; never a part of their activities. Loki always noticed it but it never felt so cold when his mother came to stand beside him and chase away the frost with her smiles. His father rarely spared him a look most of the time before he **forced** him to _see_ him for once when he took the only thing other than Thor that he cared about.

What enraged him was that it still felt like he was in that corner even though he was on top now! They were in _his_ shadow now! The company was his and he dictated who stayed and who left and when they did.

He possessed everything he used to covet; the power, the fear, the business, the standing this position brokered, yet it left him feeling almost as hollow as he used to, if not about equally. He struggled, schemed, worked his fingers raw, back-stabbed, and clawed his way to this point but it did not fulfill him the way he always expected it would. Maybe that was because he still did not have the respect he craved. Even after he pulled the company out from under his father and not only kept it running, but made it grow more powerful, his father still looked down his nose at him. To his father it only seemed to prove he was the lesser son rather than swaying the scale in his favor. After forcing his father and brother out, he expected the hate, but he somehow thought it would garner veneration.

The condemnation, disdain, and disapproval in those aging eyes hurt a great deal more than he could bring himself to admit.

His name was whispered in trepidation by most now and they did recognize his skill but nothing more. People called him depreciating things like a cheat and a trickster behind his back. Everyone in _Asgard_ thought he was suspicious and had deals in the dark side of business because they secretly abhorred him and had a revulsion to what they decided he was, so obviously he must be doing shady things because he was evil.

Loki had to stretch his fingers when he heard his knuckles crack from how tightly he balled his fingers into fists. His hands protectively moved to his chest as he rubbed his fingers into his palm. A few deep breaths calmed him a little. It should not still bother him because he was used to this and the disappointment. It did not even matter what they thought because he _owned_ them all now! He was on top and they would learn that eventually and they would respect his ability. Unlike his golden brother that was good at everything _but_ business, this was the place he excelled, his element, the place he was most secure.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the blip of an icon signaling a message received. He turned around slowly and walked to the desk to sit in his chair; his chair, his desk, and _his_ office; before opening it. It was from that girl. A smile tugged at his lips as he read it. He had honestly not been expecting her to comply after she left for the day, and on personal time too.

Loki reclined in his chair, the razor edge to his grin unseen by anyone, "Thank you, Ms. Darcy Lewis. I think you and I may work together well after all."

He could use her against Stark if he stepped just right. Maybe he just never would be happy until he ruled more than one kingdom. One was not enough. That hidden part of him that was desperate for approval was a hungry beast, and if his father and everyone else couldn't see his value after one takeover, maybe they would with the next. He owed Stark one anyway! This girl could help him get what he wanted, he could tell!

* * *

_AN: Yes, I did play off the cold aspect on purpose just like I brought out Loki's dislike of storms for Thor. No regrets and I'd do it again! I regret none of my shameful nods the the movies or quotes, none!_

_ In case you didn't get the business lingo: "dual distribution – The practice of simultaneously distributing products or services through two or more marketing channels that may or may not compete for similar buyers. exclusive distribution – A distribution strategy whereby a producer sells its products or services in only one retail outlet in a specific geographical area." If you were at all unsure that should explain. Tony and Loki are both being jerks to her right now._

_By the way, Regnmotfnstret , the "Another" comment killed me! XD I heard Thor's voice, I swear!_


	3. Face Time

**~=High Rise=~**

_Face Time_

_*Marvel_

_*Loki Odinson, Darcy Lewis, etc. _

_AN: Soooo, I put some little teaser things in here for you._

* * *

When Darcy arrived in Odinson's office the following day she had been more than a little shocked by the smiling figure that greeted her. Loki shook her hand and even came out from behind his desk to talk to her. With his arms crossed loosely over his chest, thin hips leaned against his huge desk, and ankles crossed casually, he looked so normal even in a suit. It struck her instantly that the real Loki, rather than the one keeping civil, relaxed business talk wither her, had been kidnapped by aliens and duplicated with this pleasanter version. In the back of her mind something was screaming fowl play but she managed not to bolt out the door screaming for aluminum foil hats.

Optimistic Darcy wanted to think that this friendly version of the man was the real one and he was behaving this way because they had built a rapport. She wanted to think that this was his way of apologizing to her for his rude, exasperating behavior yesterday. Her show of good will in sending him the papers and being the calm adult had won his respect as much as anyone could manage. Now he was trying to be professional and work with her. This was the start of better things! Heck, he might even be fun to work with now that he wasn't an ice-king, he did have a good wit. Maybe this would end up making her career rather than damaging it considering everyone considered working with him and coming out alive to be worth as much as a year of other casework.

Cynical Darcy was sure that this was a ruse to put her off balance and make her unprepared for the kill. Tantrum throwing was in his nature and there was no way he would feel guilty for it. There was a reason people feared him and it wasn't because of his smooth voice and winning smile. He wanted something and he was switching tactics today in a wholly new approach at getting it. What she really needed to do was wait for the other shoe to drop where the monster came back. He was a tornado and this was the eye of the whirlwind, but she was in more danger here than anywhere else. This was the man that stole his father's business, not a kitten she found in a box. This was like pandas; they looked huggable but if you tried you had a good chance of getting killed.

Nice Loki was strangely more handsome than angry Loki. His smile put her at ease even though she knew that was exactly why he was doing it. Talking to him when he smiled seemed easy and the mellow atmosphere he created was extremely pleasant. His verdant eyes changed from frightening to beautiful. She could admire how handsome he was without the desire to slam her fist into that gentle sloping jaw. She had never been a sucker for a pretty face but it did not hurt things any to have something nice to look at.

She wondered if he might not use his looks to gain favor in deals. A little flirting would take him a long way with some female clients, probably the occasional male clients too. Flirtation in business was a skill; too much or used on the wrong target and it sank the ship, but just enough on the right ones and you could gain a loyal meal ticket. The neglected housewives must flip for this guy. The lonely high powered women that most men were too intimidated by must have melted at his confident power. He would be any secretaries dream too, use his favor to work up ... not that he would give anyone a boost but she could imagine him pretending he would. It made her question how many women this one man could be dangling.

Good thing she was smart and gave up finding a decent man ages ago. If she hadn't seen more than enough guys that could act in love and cheat on their poor wives, he might be tempting even her. Darcy was no fool though, she knew a deadly poison when she saw it. Swallowing this man's lies would have about the same end as drinking potassium cyanide.

Loki held out a paper and slid over beside her to point out a section, his chest brushed against her shoulder very lightly, and she struggled not to tense. Her head nodded slowly as he spoke, following his long finger as it traced the line. Now she _knew_ he was trying something! He might as well have been running his fingers in little circles on the curve of her back, and she intended to move away before he could try. It was obvious what this was and she was not a dumb little freshman in law school he could trick.

"What do you think, Ms. Lewis?" His eyes lifted to look into her face.

She had to crane her neck just to catch his eyes from this angle and the comment just slipped out before she could stop it, "You're taller than yesterday."

Loki blinked at her like he was deciding if he heard her correctly before he snorted and said, "Not since last I checked."

Darcy laughed self depreciatingly and took her chance to step away from him, "Sorry, I did not mean to say it aloud ... but you were at your desk most of the time yesterday so it just surprises me when you're closer." She grinned at him to make sure he did not notice her moving away, "People must get soar necks around you from looking up so much."

The smile he was wearing looked conspiratorial but more real than most she had been shown, "It never occurred to me to ask even though a lot more people than would like to do have to look up to me in more than just height."

Joking around was as much his element as hers, which gave her a little hope for him. "I'm sure."

"But," he prompted, "what do you think of my idea on location?"

She tipped her head slowly forward and let her eyes fall to his feet, "On the surface, it looks to have potential. I never like to decide until I have checked into it personally and researched the entire area first. You never know what hidden problem could arise unless you examine every angle. People looking to sell can hide any manner of things from a buyer." Her words had been so careful, not tipping her hand but sounding as intelligent as possible, while avoiding telling him that Tony might hate it because he had not found it.

"That can be true of a great many things." He chuckled dryly and left her wondering just how many meanings he had hidden behind that one phrase.

Both heads swiveled in the direction of the door when the tiny blonde walked in holding a tray with what looked to be lattes. Loki reached for the one nearest him without a word. Darcy snatched hers, or what she could only guess had to be hers, with all the desire of a true caffeine addict. It was warm to the touch, even through the cute little cafe holder. The smell wafting from both cups was pure heaven and she just had to smile, bringing the cup to her chest like a mother with a lost child. Beautiful and comforting. She was surprised Loki let her have one, unless it wasn't his idea.

"Thanks, chica, you rock my world! You read my mind!" Darcy's smile faltered when she saw the incredulous look the two of them gave her.

_Oops, that was a blunder._ Professional, she had to be a big bad lawyer in here. She let the lure of his smiles and coffee relax her too much. A little warmth hit the tops of her ears but it did not hit her face, fortunately. She was with big, bad S.H.I.E.L.D. and they did not talk like a common person. She was only supposed to be business and lofty words to prove she knew what she was talking about. No one respected the cussing or slang here, it showed your education was poor. The high tempers did bring out cussing or slang, sure but she would always hear people mutter about it later. People judged harshly.

"Sure, not a problem." The girl finally muttered.

Darcy nodded and turned on her heels to put her back to both of them even as the girl left. She sipped her coffee and decided to pretend it never happened. That girl would start the talking about it, things like how she just found out the new girl was really just some poor scholarship student that got lucky, because she obviously talked like the every day teens on the street. Loki was bound to ruin her one way or the other. Or maybe she worried too much but worry and paranoia kept you alive in this world.

Which brought her full circle, back to her resolve last night to get a thing or two to use against Odinson if he decided to go for the kill. Weaknesses had to be hiding under that thick dragon hide of his, she just had to poke him to find them.

"Back to what we were discussing though, now that the proper fuel has been added to the mix." He said as he crossed to sit behind his desk. His quick, graceful fingers easily managed to find whatever they were looking for. His posture was almost languid as he sat in the kingly place, looking all too at home.

Darcy slowly moved in closer, but not so close as to crowd, and no where near as close as he had come to her. She watched him flick through pages and pictures of locations. Whatever he wanted to convince her of, he was working hard at it. That alone was enough to worry her. For having such an innocent interest in locations he was pitching hard if the pretty landscape flashing by was an indicator. There was no question he had a reason for suggesting that place.

"For the extension of Vanaheimr Production, I personally picked out this area." The screen showed a very lovely building that looked like the perfect place for Disney magic to happen, then clicked to show her what it became, which really was impressive - He had modernized an old structure to perfection appealing to old and new generations. He was a little too good and that worried her too.

"Vana Productions..." She mused aloud, "I have heard about them quite a lot in the recent years. They used to partner with your father."

His body instantly went from a relaxed pose to a stiff, tight posture, "That is correct."

"I heard that was a deal made ages ago by your father." Her eyes fixed on his profile as she said the next line, "I heard they tried to break off the deal with Asgard, gave you mountains of problems, because they refused to do business with anyone other than him, trust established and things like that. Everyone said that he operated on his genius mind and the alliances he formed over the years."

"The _key_ to that story being how they **tried** to break it. The second key being how I now own over half of their establishment and it runs even better than it did while their outdated loyalty and systems held them in bondage." His green eyes flashed with controlled rage as he rounded on her suddenly, still seated but still managing to make her feel like she was looking up to him, "My _father_, Ms. Lewis, was an inexcusable coxcomb. He was obsolete and would have dragged this company to the ground. I saved it!"

There he was, the Loki she knew, full fledged. She finally got the familiar one back to the front. This guy had too many personalities swirling around. Darcy had to fight not to let the corners of her mouth twitch up. Weak spot number one found! Daddy issues! It sounded like he had some kind of complex going on there too, a spiny spot with regards to not taking his dad's greatness being compared to his very well. Not shocking with that ego. Score! She was gaining ground. This looked like a deep well of potential.

She absolutely had to explore this a little more, it could be her only chance, "Your brother did not seem to think so. From what I heard, he thought your father was indispensable to the company."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it!" If it was even possible, his eyes clouded even further with what she had to call pure ferocity. "My brother developed that ideology only after our father carved him down to the ground for an asinine, unauthorized deal he made that nearly destroyed the company." His voice sounded positively husky, "Before he was ground under that heavy heal he used to rave about taking over and changing 'the old fool's cowardly dealings'- his words- so don't think he always sang those praises! He only realized how much he needed our father's help when his imbecilic ways got him in so much trouble, kicked into the real world to see how far he had to go."

Weak spot number two already! She was on a roll! "Really? I had no idea. What deal did he make that caused such issues?"

A calm came over those chiseled-rock features so fast it was easy to question he had been angry at all, "It is history now, and as you pointed out to me early on, we do need to proceed with our current matters rather than past deals."

That had not been exactly what she said yesterday but she could roll with it; he was obviously good at twisting words to fit his individual needs ... like those kids that changed to rules in games any time they started to lag in points. "Oh, of course. Please continue. The building is lovely."

He smiled up at her and crossed his arms, but the smile was tight, "I think we could improve that location just as easily. The bones of it are good so we could simply alter it to fit our needs. It is better than building a totally new, cookie cutter building with no personality, do you not agree?"

Darcy smiled and nodded, "Indeed, I do."

Loki was cordial from then on, and he slowly eased himself back into the coy flirting, which she ignored for the most part. He was a charmer and that was a fact, but she was wise to flirting. Her ample chest made sure she knew a lot about men and their flirting styles. She could spot flirting from a miles distance. He was one of the best at making it seem unintentional she had ever met, even making her question herself more than once, but he was a player.

All his fines and striking intelligence made him so difficult to deal with. He exploited weakness for his own gain and played people like a stringed instrument and obviously knew his way around a woman. She would have trouble with him and she knew it, but as long as she did not let him predict her, she would be fine. He was a Casanova sort of man that could find his way into any bed he wanted, but not hers. It made her feel powerful to know she could avoid his lures and walk away with her pride and dignity at the end. She was not a notch in a bedpost, thank you very much, and she was also not stupid!

Admittedly, she played with him in return, brushing against him innocently or even leaning over to look at papers to give him a peek at her bra. It gave her a few moments of thrill when she was sure he noticed. Playing games was not foreign to her either but she knew exactly where to draw the line, and snaps of tantalizing was where the line stopped.

Even though she was no expert she could tell he was a mess of bottled emotion and anger, bad things to get tangled with. If she said yes, she knew what it would look like; a lot of wine, empty flattery, and even more insider business pillow talk at the end, and Darcy ending up in a huge mess. Men were not as smart as they thought and they were never as charming as they believed. He might have had a very well made and cared for body with more than enough to keep a girl happy, but she had pride and self worth. Giving him that just handed over her power, which she was not planning on doing. He could try all he wanted but she was not that easy to fool.

She had other ways to stay in control too.

* * *

After going home for the night and realizing he had forgotten the_ Infinity_ project paperwork, he was forced to turn around and go back. All the way up in the lift he had been muttering to himself. The day had put him into a foul mood and this was just one more thing to add to the list. If the Lewis girl and Stark's impertinence was not bad enough, the other liaison for this project multiplied in exponentially. Too bad he really needed that deal, that patent and design. The last time he dealt with the other liaison had been an experience that he did not care to revisit but dealing directly with the client was worse.

The things he endured for a little power! Sometimes he was not sure it was worth it. But what else could he do? There were only two options in life; going up, or going down. He intended to go up and stay there, gazing down at his father, by whatever means needed. One day he would show that old man that he was a hundred times better than all of them. Some day, he would own all of their lives and they would bow to his whims.

The building was as deserted as it ever could be. He could hear a vacuum running somewhere, the low drone mundanely familiar. He had heard it many a night when he spent the late hours working in his office. The cleaning people were all that was in the building though, and they never really seemed to sleep, like ghosts inhabiting the place.

The smell of un-emptied trash from lunch made him crinkle his nose in disgust as he walked by the gathered cans of it.

Taking out his keys, he slipped them in and slid the bolt from home, twisting the knob and walking in. His heart jumped from his chest when his eyes landed on a figure silhouetted against his windows. For a minute he stood frozen, mind racing with questions of _how_ that man got in and _why_. It was locked, he never forgot to lock his door and it had been locked when he walked through. Papers rustled as the older man looked up and smiled, flipping the pages like a fan. It took all his willpower, but Loki schooled his expression of shock to a bored, though annoyed one and walked the rest of the way in.

"I did not remember we had a meeting tonight." Loki's voice was calm but he kept a particular threatening edge to it.

"Your secretary must have forgotten to write it down." The old sandpaper, raspy voice crooned.

There was little point in turning on the light, so he left it off as he walked, shutting the door quietly. There was nothing he wanted to see in the company of this man, and little to see even with a light. The big, dark sunglasses he habitually wore hid a majority of his face, thankfully. The wrinkled visage was shielded behind them and peeking out from under the black hood; which, in Loki's opinion, he was far too old to be wearing a Nike hoodie that had to be a size too large for him, let alone keep the hood up like some street thug. While he was all for mystery, a hoodie did not scream high quality business, with or without the copious amount of wrinkles in skin. These people were eccentric.

Loki huffed through his nose and dropped his briefcase into a chair, "It would seem so." He said as he prowled forward, eyeing the papers in the other man's hand, "But I had come back for those papers. It is kind of you to have anticipated my need for them."

Loki held out his hand pointedly. The other man hesitated before smacking them into his waiting palm. He checked quickly over the pages to be sure none were missing. What more had been rifled through was an unknown subject. It was only a hope that he had arrived back in time to stop a lot of the exploration. Locks did not ever seem to hinder this ghost of a man.

"So, Loki, how does it go with Stark?" The dark, annoying voice prompted.

"It goes well. I have been making a lot of progress with the girl he sent. His cowardice in not dealing with me directly will be the first of many mistakes."

The old man laughed in such a way that it made Loki's chest tighten, "We are not interested in your conquests, boy, we only care about Stark's designs. Use the girl for your personal heater all you want so long as you get us what we want!"

His green eyes narrowed in anger, lips a thin line as he glared, "I will get everything you asked for and I will crush Stark while I'm at it. By the time I finish, he will beg to get a job in my office mail department."

Quiet steps moved the other man around the desk like a vulture circling a half dead animal, "You said something similar the last time you tried. My associate has been gracious to offer you a second chance."

"That was because your systems failed. I had to work against all his people alone." A calculating, devious smile played at the corners of his lips, forcing back the twinge of worry as he spoke, "Had you proved to be useful, it would have been done. As it was, I nearly had Stark and his merry band of fools. For failing to help, I think your employer owes _me._"

Rather than the expected reaction of anger, only dry laughter came as the other man strolled past him. Loki struggled to hold his ground and not flinch away as a badly wrinkled hand came to rest on his shoulder. He pointedly did not look into that face, feigning indifference but hiding the way his skin crawled with revulsion at the closeness.

He should never have gotten involved with them. The people that suspected he was dealing with darker business men were right, but to be fair, he had not really known what he was getting into until it was too late. It had been something of a self fulfilling prophecy, the people expected it of him so he expected to encounter it, seeking it out in some cases. They entered his life the moment he set his eyes on Stark and offered help for a small pittance of designs. The thought had been that if he was accused of it he might as well benefit from it. He thought with his wits it would be easy to manipulate the turn of things but he had soon found differently. Now they frightened him and made him question how long he could keep them under control before it was he that was being controlled. Now that he was going after Stark again, they had been contacting him, urging him on.

The call had come right after the Lewis girl sent him the file and now they were breaking into his office. Being bothered by them was not enough to make him stop his plans but it did make him wary. That power to make the world his would need to come soon so he could be the one making them nervous. Things like this just further instilled his need to gain an even higher place.

"Just get it done, Odinson."

Loki did not bother to watch him leave, he just glared at the windows until he heard the door click shut. A good chunk of time after was spent looking for listening devices or cameras. Paranoia might have played a part in his desperate searching but he was of the mind that it was true what they said; just because a person was paranoid did not mean people were not out to get them. In his case there were more than a few people out for his head so it seemed doubly true.

This one was not his only deal, he had many going all at once and not all of them were friendly. The call he was forced to step out for when the girl refused to leave was from one of his more nefarious associates and long time spy he used while his father had been the head of Asgard. That woman could not be trusted any farther than he could but she was good at what she did. Her seductive ways worked wonders on getting information from his dear brother.

After finding no strange devices he did feel a little silly but his heart was not quieted. He did not like the idea of anyone entering his space uninvited, it made him feel vulnerable and violated. It was unpleasant. He dropped into his chair, finally noticing his shaking hands. At least thing occurred during a time no one was around to see him behaving like a frightened child. He closed his eyes and willed himself to relax. Stress was something he could handle, he created it well enough for others so he could handle it himself. Panic was the first step to failure and he was no failure.

The phone on his desk made him jump to his feet, anticipating another intrusion or maybe that he missed a camera and this was the call to tell him they were watching.

He snatched the phone from the cradle and barked a hello.

"Um, Loki, it's me." A deep male voice answered slowly, "I tried your other number but you did not answer."

A growl was on his lips instantly, "For good reason! Had I not answered so quickly and looked at the caller identification, you would have had the same luck here."

"I guess my luck is still good then."

Loki sighed, deflating fast and dropped into his chair again, sighing out his answer, "What do you want?"

"We need to talk."

"Am I mistaken or are we not currently speaking?" Loki chuckled derisively.

"In person."

"No. I have nothing to say to you I have not already said."

"Please, Loki?"

* * *

Why he was sitting at this little late-night coffee shop was beyond him, somewhat. When he said yes to the pleading voice he seriously intended not to come, just leaving the idiot to sit here waiting all night. Now he was the one sitting on a leather stool, hot mug in hand as he faced the wall. His foot tapped the metal bar of a foot rest impatiently as he childishly swiveled the stool back and forth - not really becoming of Asgard's top man but he doubted anyone knew he was in here.

Staying was a good strategy, he reminded himself. Considering the person he was meeting, one of the very consultants Tony used to thwart his plans, would be best watched carefully. Furthermore, meeting him would be a sign of goodwill to lull him into security, make him believe nothing was going on. Being nice was a good way to relax people. Besides, he might get a feel for what Stark was up to, or if he was pulling the old people together through this talk. Gathering information was the goal even if it was an unpleasant means to that end.

His face was blank of any expression besides total boredom but inwardly his mind was a chastising blaze. Strategy was only half, if that, of why he was here even if he would deny it to his last breath. He caved to that familiar puppy voice and he knew deep down why he had. His stomach was feeling the stress, all this at once was going to give him ulcers. No one would ever bring him to admit it but he knew deep down what his reasons were, guilt being one of the main ones. Being here and waiting was unpleasant and made the previous tension in his body worse.

Loki blinked a few times, tensing as he heard heavy steps and familiar gate heading his way. He did not bother to turn his head or move his gaze as a tall figure easily slid onto the stool beside him. Now that the caller was so close he questioned whether or not he even had to ability to look at him. It had been a long time since they had been in the same room, not since a confrontation in Stark's office. It was a conscious effort to keep his breathing steady and to look perfectly relaxed. He did not even flinch or jerk away when a large hand gently rested on his shoulder.

Finally, he turned his head to look at the blonde, "You're late."

A smile spread over the unshaven, virile face, "I'm not late, you are early per usual." His blue eyes fell to the floor for a minute before returning with the smile only a ghost, "Thank you for coming."

The hand was still resting on his shoulder but he was making no move to flee from it yet, "What did you want to see me about, Thor?"

The hand fell away to tuck a bit of choppy, jaw-length golden hair behind his ear, "How have you been? We have not seen each other in nearly a year, or perhaps more."

Loki shifted the stool toward his brother to drill him with a stare, "You are avoiding the question and that is never a good sign."

* * *

_AN: If you thought that was the Other, you guessed right. I am still waiting for them to come after Loki like they promised. Don't think Thanos is going to let stuff slide so easily, you know? Not sure Marvel is going to take that anywhere or just let it go but in my mind, stuff would have happened. Thanos would be kind of an underworld type in modern day life so that is what he is. More Darcy and Loki ahead with some fun later, don't worry._


	4. Slip

**~=High Rise=~**

_Slip_

_*Marvel_

_*Loki Odi__nson, Darcy Lewis, etc._

_AN: So, warning, suggestive stuff ahead, though not explicit, read only if you're old enough. If you don't want to read it, just skip the fist section, after that you are safe. Also, this gets moving here with everyone in this one. Tony will be back in the next chapter if you have been missing him, plus more Marvel characters._

* * *

Loki opened the door slowly, brows crinkled together as he stepped through. It had been locked last night, he had been more than careful to lock it fully but it was open now. Not again, he did not want to find that man here again, once was more than enough. He felt tension rise inside him as he looked around the room, still quite unsettled from the intrusion during the night. It was morning now and he was in no mood at all for another visit so soon.

It was an instant temptation to pick up one of his swords from the display. Before he reached for one he finally saw her, scanning over his books like she had done a few days ago, the first day. He relaxed instantly upon seeing her, thankful for the better outcome.

She was wearing the exact same outfit as the first day, like she had forgotten to cycle through her others. She was as stunning as she had been the first day, perfectly sculpted and manicured. He would never concede thinking it aloud but it was no less a fact. Darcy was an alluring creature that was extremely easy to admire. It amplified the truth when she was staring at his treasured books in some odd, and maybe kinky way; like the way some men fancied teachers or librarians. He shoved the thought aside easily before but it was harder to do now.

He watched her for a minute in silence before he spoke, "I gather you are a reader like myself, Ms. Lewis?"

Darcy flinched, startled, and turned to look at him, "How was dinner?"

Loki frowned, "It would be breakfast." He paused, worrying his lower lip between his teeth as his eyes traveled over her, "But we have had this same conversation before."

Her eyes sparkled and she nodded, "Yes, we have, so you should change it. Try to be more friendly."

His brows arched at her and he crossed his arms, "Should I? What should I say instead, Ms. Lewis?"

She shifted her weight so that her back rested smoothly against the shelves. "You could tell me how good I look standing in front of all these expensive books of yours." The playful smile made him want to smile back, which he found himself doing.

A long sigh hissed past his teeth as he looked her over from the top of her head to the tips of her shoes, lingering longer in some places than others, "You do. The way you ran your fingers over the books so tentatively the last time caused me to wish I could be one of them. It is rare for me to be caught off guard like that. The passion in your eyes made me want to spin you around, pin you against my shelves and take you right there." He was never usually so honest, something was wrong with him.

A red tint swept her cheeks as she looked at him from under hooded lids, "Did it make you hot to imagine it?"

His breathing was already uneven as he watched her unbutton the top two buttons of her blouse with one hand to show the deep dipping v of her cleavage, caressing the books up and down with the other, "Yes." A shiver went up his spine as he moved in closer. "It took a great deal of self control not to act on my wishes."

"What would happen if you let loose?"

He took a few steps forward, eyes glued to her seductive stare, knowing she was pulling him in, "How did you get into my office?" The tone of his voice deepened with their shortening proximity, "And what sort of a game are you playing with me?"

"Game?" She asked coyly.

"Yes, you have been trying to distract me from the very first." He narrowed his eyes at her to indicate a challenge, daring her to refute his point.

Tipping her head, she smiled, "Maybe, but you have been trying to seduce me so I would tell you what you wanted to know. You wanted to wind me around your hand and convince me to do what you wanted."

"How would you know that?" He sneered as he again stepped closer.

"I just know. You have never been as clandestine as you thought." She countered.

"I overthrew my father." He squared his shoulders proudly, chin level.

"Because he underestimated you."

Loki's hands were coiled into her soft hair in the next breath, staring down dangerously into her eyes, "He always has, but I really don't want to talk about that right now."

"You never want to talk about it at all. You always avoid conversations that hurt you, but it doesn't change how it feels." She was unaffected by his closeness while he was very much so. She needed to stop talking.

To silence her, he cupped the back of her head and locked his mouth over hers. It was not a slow kiss, it was open mouthed and insistent. He was already breathing harder through his nose, pinning her to the shelves with his body. His hips rolled into her and he groaned, not even aware how aroused he was until this point. She did not push him away so he continued, swaying against her and clinging to her. He wanted to do this the minute he saw her that first night, wanted to have her against the shelves. It was dirty and he knew it but he wanted it all the same.

She moaned as if knowing his thoughts and he buried his face in the crook of her neck and into her thick hair. He was past knowing what he was doing, just grinding against her in a wanton haze of need. With his face pressed so hard into her hair he could hardly even breathe but he did not care in the slightest. He did not even notice the world around him and he was vaguely aware that something was wrong with the situation considering he knew for a fact he would never really do this. This was out of character for him. This was all too careless of him; he was better than this. He never publicly lost control of his senses but he was in no frame of mind to care.

His vision was blurry and splotchy as his eyes flew open, a cry on his lips as his back arched in reflex to the sensations slamming in his brain. Shivers of strange delight and electricity slithered over him as he tried to grasp why. Loki was panting hard as he lifted his face away from the suffocating valley of his goose down pillow, lids blinking rapidly as he tried in desperation to orient himself. His fingers were locked tightly into the fabric, clutching the pillows for dear life. His elbows raised him up enough that he could comfortably not die of air loss as he shook his head to clear the dust he felt there from that-

Flipping onto his back he groaned in frustration. He had dreamed about that stupid girl and he ... how could he have been dreaming about her like that? She was Stark's spy! She was beneath him! What was wrong with him? Little wonder it was so strange! Even in the dream he knew there was something wrong. That would never happen in a normal setting. He would never behave that way and he doubted she would either.

He would never, ever ... His hands shot to cover his face like it might save him from his own whirlpool of humiliation.

His long legs shifted, knees bending and he froze, noticing the sleep pants felt suspiciously wrong, warm and uncomfortable. Hesitantly, he glanced down. Had he really ... yes, yes he had! A snarl bit into the quiet of his room and he slammed his fist into the dresser beside him, utterly furious. Was he fourteen, really? Was he a teenager again for mercy sake, spilling over a dream? This was the absolute limit!

That rotten woman! He was not at all sure how he was going to face her after this. At least she did not know about it, that was all the saving grace he had to cling to in the matter. But now he needed to change and obviously launder his sleepwear.

* * *

It was a pity, a tragedy they were marooned inside on such a sunny day. Darcy was not so much an outdoors kind of girl but on days where the sun was beaming and birds were singing, it just seemed wrong not to go outside. It was perfect to go and spread a blanket in the grass and bring a book. Then again, she generally had good intentions about going outside until she walked out the door and remembered sunny days meant a lot of heat, at which point she would inevitably head for shade or go back inside.

Not to mention she usually got a sunburn on occasions she did sit in the sun and read. She was more of an inside, computer person.

At least Loki had big windows so it was as good as being outside, if not better, because there was cool air inside.

She tugged at the edges of her cute little blazer, making sure it was hanging the way it was supposed to. There were small, pink little bows at the end of the hem on each side in the front that made it just a touch girly without being in anyone's face. It was unbuttoned because she liked the look of this one best that way. Some jackets looked best open. It made her seem less formal that way too, like she was relaxed about everything even though she was not.

As Darcy strolled into the familiar office at her usual time she had to wonder exactly what version of him she would find today. He must have an entire closet dedicated to the masks he wore for people and occasions. The ink haired master loomed where he always was, behind that desk. If the tight smile he shot her was to be believed, she predicted nice Loki. Good, she needed that today.

He watched her come toward him with an unusual wariness. She felt he was even less happy to see her today than most days but he was hiding it. Her chest tightened like it normally did when she took a good look into those eyes though; she decided the forecast might have mild showers of angry Loki too. There was a darkness behind that soft smile that never failed to remind her that she was with the enemy.

"How is the day treating you so far, Mr. Odinson?" She let a wide smile perk up her features to try to quell her apprehension.

"It is going well," He said the last part so quietly she almost did not hear the, "all things considered."

There was a tightness to his entire body that, upon a closer look, she could not help seeing, "I relayed your suggestions to Mr. Stark last night and he sent me with these for you." The papers dangled from her fingers as she held them out like an olive branch. "He liked your suggestions on location but he also wanted to show you a few that he discovered to compare the advantages of all of them."

"You mean he hated it and wanted to see if he could sway me onto something he liked." Loki chuckled derisively and slid the papers from her hand.

"No." She shook her head, curls swaying over her cheeks, "He liked it. He said you have quite an eye for property potentials. He said you would be able to see if these locations had any merit to them, if anyone could." Those had not been his words but she could twist meanings as well as either of them could.

His green eyes lifted to hers and he grinned secretively, "Well, if he really wants me to look them over, it could not hurt."

"If not for this project, you might show him things for ones in the future. You never know."

His lips twitched in a near smile as he read and glanced over pictures and blueprints.

Oh yeah, she was smooth! That went over just fine! No anger needed to be stirred into the mixture at all. She was a peace goddess ... hopefully. The fact that she defused his irritation, or hoped she had, made her stand a little taller. Business owners or not, she could still stroke their egos the right way and make this work. She studied for this kind of thing and she would use it. Wording was power and spin to that was key, everything was about spin.

"By the way, have you had a chance to look over the fourth section of my revised counter offer? You work more closely with Stark than I ever will so I did wonder if you thought he would be willing to offer some of his ... gadgets to the new building?" Loki seemed so disdainful, nose crinkling and upper lip curling just a little when he brought up Tony's inventions, which raised the question of why he would want to have them in the production if he thought them inferior.

Darcy shuffled through her other pages quietly, "What items did you have in mind for the production?" Like a stray feather, one of her papers floated lazily from the stack to land by her foot.

"I have heard he has been working on several new items lately," He slipped off his chair in a smooth, surprisingly graceful motion and snatched up the page before looking up, "So..."

She watched him as he seemed to freeze in place before her, eyes fixed on the hem of her skirt before they nervously darted over her and back up to her eyes several times. Her first reflexive thought was that she spilled coffee somewhere and had not noticed it but a fast glance down told her otherwise. The strange expression on his face took her mind several turns to place, it was only when she looked more deeply into his eyes that it dawned on her what was happening. Her eyes widened a fraction.

_No way!_ There was no way! He could not have been thinking what she thought he was. Not this man!

A hint of color dusted his cheeks as he rose quickly, head turning away to stare sidelong at the windows, handing her the fallen item like it was burning his fingers. Oh, he thought it alright, he so thought it! Not good! Her stomach flipped with discomfort and unease as she realized she was correct and everything they had just been talking about was long out of her head. Awkward did not even begin to describe realizing what passed through those few seconds of his pause on his knees.

She did not need this! Maybe she brought in on with the flirting stuff but, in fairness, he started that little game. It might have gone too far though.

Panic swirled in her as she waited in desperation for him to continue speaking so she would have an idea what to say. She needed to know what he was going to say or there was no way she could pull this out and save what little composer she had left. It had always been her skill to play off these kinds of things, act dumb, play innocent, redirect and shift topics harmlessly into safe waters but without any idea what they had said before she was rudderless. Midstream changes were too obvious.

"What-what were your thoughts?" His voice was almost faltering, but he hid it so well she could easily pretend not to notice.

_Perfect._ The way he said it and his choice of words made her very sure he no longer remembered what they had been speaking of either. He passed it to her in an act of desperation. So he got desperate too, she could remember that and tuck it away for later.

She glanced at her papers but she could not think what she had been in search of only a minute before so that was no help. Her mind was spinning like an overhead fan, trying desperately to conjure a topic to shift into. Her head cocked to the side in a thoughtful manner, as if thinking over his question, but she was just plotting her next move to escape.

Things like this happened to her more often than she ever thought they should but it generally could be saved. She was good at this, she could give them both an out and ensure they could plod on normally. A little playing at obliviousness went a long way because everyone could back out if the other party thought she was too dense to understand what they had done or said. No one had nailed her down yet and she was not breaking her streak. She could not let this sink her considering they still had to work together.

"Well, I suppose we should consider all side of the matter. What is good for you as well as Stark Industry ... you two should both be satisfied with the outcome of it." She paused, holding one finger up as if an idea occurred to her from the great beyond as she hurried away from him, "Speaking of, I wanted to ask you if you thought we should revise the current systems administration or not. Your company uses one format while Stark's uses another. It is a small matter but when we consider the employees it can add up to more. I am sure that Tony would like to continue with his, but I did think, if you had objections, we could find middle ground."

Loki looked measurably relieved for the change and he nodded amiably, back to the calmness she was getting used to. "I am more than happy to take his ideas into consideration. I have heard his employees feel that particular method is efficient. I have never considered it myself but I see no reason not to now."

That was a nice save! Darcy nodded and abandoned her pages for new ones in her bag. She was switching directions and she was just thankful she was distanced from him and that she had a path to follow. Master-subject-redirection-Darcy struck again and saved the day! Good thing she had a subject to switch to. Stark was good for something! She was never good at floundering and she always tried to move past those moments with a quickness.

The way he watched her pull out the folder spoke volumes. He was deciding if she was acting or if she had really not seen the way he looked at her. Stage acting had never been her hobby but maybe it should have been. The way his stance relaxed told her he had decided he was safe. Playing the innocent little new girl paid off on some occasions.

After talking further and going over yet more paperwork as if nothing out of ordinary transpired, they settled into a normal lull. Darcy was thankful for normal when it came to this man. Normal meant he was not raging or trying to flirt with her, though he was never not trying to trick her, she would take what she could come by and run with it. The normal moments kept her mind from breaking.

An interruption in the form of a ringing phone brought them each to a stop as he picked up his private line and shoved his papers haphazardly at her.

Worry began to stir in her anew once he answered. The way his shoulders tensed and jaw set told her he was not keen on the caller. His tone became hushed and thick with menacing even as he stepped out of the room to speak in private, shutting the door and leaving her alone. It unnerved her to feel that rage spike in him because she was never sure it would not come her way. He was so moody and changeable. People were afraid of him for a reason.

Darcy sighed as she dropped into his chair, sorting through her papers to organize them. Being with that guy felt like being on a carnival ride without a seat belt. He drained her by just being in the room, but when he left her alone she was left to worry about what manner of mood she would face when he came back. She could relax, slouch, and swing her feet when he was gone but it just did not make her feel at easy. She could remember dreading the return of few people the way she did his, but the ranking ones would have been her crazy high school math teacher that still lived in his glory days in the army.

She needed to lighten that guy up somehow.

Parts of being here were fun, she would admit. He had a sharp humor that she did enjoy if it was not directed at her. There was a fun sort of charm to him that she could have basked in if he were just a little more relaxed and a lot less Jurassic Park raptor peeking in the kitchen door. She had a feeling he would be the fun guy in a party as long as he was happy. He must have been the class prankster as a kid too, she just knew it. If he could pull out that fun side more he would be easier to endure. The phone call face of his did not testify to fun though.

And she still had to go see Stark after this. There were times she was not sure it was worth it.

* * *

The wall thumped with the force of his back connecting with it as he sagged, phone dangling in his fingers. Listening to that voice was grating on him even more than it normally did. He did not want to hear from this man after last night, he did not even want to be a part of their little club meetings any more. They were not even helpful, just demanding. He was not their employee!

To say that he felt anything better than exhaustion last night would be an atrocious lie. He hardly remembered getting home or how he got there, he simply knew he ended up there after his long hours working on both his pressing cases after the ghost left. His sleep had been fitful too, and then there was that dream he awakened to.

Loki had seen fit to test a new strategy with her the day before, which could have been the catalyst for his problem. It was the best he had come up with as a reason. Intimidation had not worked so a flexible man like himself could adjust. He knew he had to lull her into a relaxed state, a place where she would let him be her master and let him morph and move her how he desired, so he was willing to try a little flirting. It had worked on more seasoned women than her so an innocent little girl should have been easy to sway with a bit of charisma. Women were weak to light brushes of contact, well-timed soft spoken words, or fleeting, innocently seductive glances across the room.

She surprised him again though, which was becoming an irritating trend. She did not melt, throw herself at him humiliatingly in a moment of lust he could blackmail her with, she did not even blush. After his careful effort it really had perturbed him. Furthermore, she had the unmitigated gal to talk down to him about his father, of all things! Apparently his mind did not take defeat well ... so it manufactured a receptive audience. Curse it all!

He mistakenly thought his mind would be merciful after that but he was wrong to think so. He thought he could push the dream about her away as he did with most other things but seeing her dressed in a button up shirt that was just a little tight in the chest, her sweet little smile, and the perky little spring in her step was all his mind needed to send him down the path to ruin.

An unsuspecting employee entered the hallway, not even noticing him in the shadows. A primal sounding snarl from his lips alerted them quickly enough, wide eyes finding him and feet carrying them swiftly out of his territory. Unfortunate soul. He might have to fire them later, if he could find out who it was. His workers should know not to enter his area for any reason. Some people compared him to a tiger or beast of prey and he could not really argue against it. Being feared was best in most situations and very helpful when he needed to be alone.

It had not been on his mind when he bent down; for a change he was being a kind, picking up her paper. The thought had come completely unbidden, but flood his mind it had. He had no idea why but it flustered him instantly the second he looked up from that position. Everything he had been saying was lost on his tongue. A lot of mental pictures rose up in his mind when he locked eyes with her from his place on his knees. He was just glad he had not actually reached for her. He was not sure how long he had stayed like that but it could not have been long.

To be sure he did not try to act on anything he had been quick to stand but he could not even begin to think what he had been saying and he knew how desperately he needed to cover. She did not act as if she knew what he had been thinking but there was something in her eyes and he was afraid she had connected the dots.

Nothing really embarrassed him but even he could feel the heat in his cheeks for a minute. That did not help at all. She did not say a word to indicate she knew, mercifully changing the subject for both of their sake, but he had been tense the entire rest of the time. Now he did not want to go back into his own office. Maybe he could send her home early?

"Loki, are you listening to me?" The voice rasped impatiently, made even worse by the mild static on the line.

"Yes." He snapped back, "And I have told you that I'm making progress! She has a several of his plans with her today and she has been showing me. I was in the process of getting more out of her when you called. If you would stop bothering me I might get things done more swiftly!"

"She has the plans with her?" Now he sounded interested.

"I don't know, we have been going through various ones for the new location. There are several different ones we have yet to touch on. Some of them might be the ones, so please stop bothering me and let me work!" Loki ended the call with an angry push at the screen, tempted to throw it.

He was livid! The girl was bothering him, his unsightly "associate" was bothering him, and his brother had bothered him as well. People needed to leave him be! He could easily have thrown something out the window and not even felt bad about it until later. Later was the problem though and he was not about to let anyone know he was ready to explode. Everything was happening at one time and he knew that played a large part in his problem as well but there was little he could do about it.

It was going to be a while before he could go back into his office.

* * *

The heels of Darcy's shoes clipped over the cement stairs, hand sliding lightly over the railing. The elevator was too slow today so she saw no better way to calm her nerves than a little walking in the silent stairwell. No one ever came in here so it seemed the perfect place to be. Lifts were always crowded and she was done with people for a while. Loki was enough people for a lifetime.

If business shark Loki and nice Loki had been a shock to her, shy and quiet Loki was even more. Her first day had been one for being pointedly ignored but this was of a different nature entirely. He never looked her in the eye after the incident, avoiding looking at her like they were in high school. He would look anywhere in the room but at her even when she was talking directly to him.

He reminded her of a twelve year old boy that lived down the hall from her a few years ago. The kid never looked at her but spoke to her frequently and nearly shadowed her whenever she was outside her apartment. At first she thought there was something wrong with that kid but his mother eventually informed her of what was really going on. After that she finally noticed that he did look at her, just at her chest, and when she caught him at it he would turn the deepest shade of red.

Loki had blushed today too. It was the most awkward thing she had ever been in the middle of, or in the top five, but as she walked down the steps all she could do was smirk. The expression on his face was about as close to priceless as she had ever seen. He looked so ashamed and humiliated at having thought it, then horrified that she might have noticed, and then desperate when the heat lit up his cheeks. Too bad she did not have a camera out.

To think such a thought would even occur to a man like that was strange. Kneeling for her was just not something she would have expected his mind to bring up. It was more humorous than it should have been and she was almost pleased with herself.

At the time, she did not want to deal with the ramifications of noticing and did not want to create even more problems in the work environment than already existed so she gave them both an out. Besides, he looked so helplessly trapped it was a bit cute and he looked so young in that instant that she did not have the heart to make him feel worse.

Her steps hitched when she saw a teenager leaned up against one of the stairwell doors, hoodie up over his face, arms crossed, and head down. A small voice in her head told her she should make a run back up and slip out the nearest door but her feet kept moving her down. It was probably just some kid waiting for a parent to get off of work. It was not as if she owned the stairs.

Her grip on the bag strap hanging on her shoulder tightened and she held the railing with more force as she kept walking. Her eyes watched him carefully but he did not even move. There were headphones hanging out of his ears and she guessed he did not even notice her. There was no reason to be afraid of a teenager, she carried a taser anyway.

Inconspicuously she unzipped the front pocket of her bag just in case she needed to reach for it. It would be simply enough to shock him if he tried to grab her. In fact, she could use some target practice after a day with Loki! Bring it on, little boy! Punk!

Chin up, shoulders back, standing even taller, she marched past the still motionless teen and kept right on going.

The world suddenly blurred and she felt nothing but a pain in her head. Darcy shifted her body on the cement landing and there was a lot more in a lot more places. Her back was killing her and her shoulder was on fire, and her knee, and her ankle, and her leg. Wait, her mind hitched with questions. Why was she on the ground, head awkwardly held up by a step? Why was that kid walking down the steps toward her? Was she really on the ground?

She tried to sit up as he came closer but she really only shifted again. It was cold. Had she slipped? Did her heal break on the steps? Why didn't she know? Had she screamed? Did anyone know she fell? Was he coming to help her?

He stepped over her like she was trash on the ground and she groaned in protest, swiping weakly at his leg in hopes of tripping him. To her foggy dismay, she did not even come close to hitting him as he passed her without so much as a glance, scooping up her bag on his way down the stairs. Her minds eye focused on a few random points, like the Nike mark on the sleeve. She watched through blurry eyes as he vanished from her sight and a door banged open and hissed closed.

Darcy frowned as something moist and warm slid down her face and dripped onto the stony ground. That guy, her sluggish brainpower realized, just stole her bag. Could he just do that? This was a business building! People were not supposed to go around taking bags from girls on stairs! Oh, she was on the stairs, right.

This feeling reminded her a little of the time her roommate in college got her totally drunk out of her skull as a prank. Darcy had not taken more than a glass of anything ever again after that, the memory of the feeling and the hangover so bad she never cared to repeat it.

Her hand reached up to cradle her head and she felt how wet it was there. Maybe he dumped coffee on her too since it felt so hot. Except it was red when she pulled her hand away again. That was not coffee.

It was not coffee at all.

It did not frighten her like it should have. She did not really feel anything besides the aches and she did not like those. She needed to stay still for a while and she would be alright. Just a little rest would fix it. The floor was really cold so that should help.

Darcy sagged back, eyes drifting lazily to the ceiling and the light behind the cage. It must be going out because the room was getting darker. Oh, no, that was her, she was getting darker. Then the light went out.

* * *

_AN: Cliffy! There you go! I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter at all but I posted it anyway. I hung onto it for a while trying to work it so I liked it but I was never happy with it so I decided to stop beating it and move ahead. I know it's not a good chapter but I'll try to make the next one worth it. Tried not to put any business lingo in it, just skipping over or brushing over it. Hope you enjoy the awkward moments!_

_The dream thing was supposed to be strange, it was a dream and I was trying to make it out of character because no one is normal in dreams. She was also his subconscious in there, not real Darcy._


	5. Fall

**~=High Rise=~**

_Fall_

_*Marvel_

_*Loki Odi__nson, Darcy Lewis, etc._

_AN: So, hope you like what I did here, how I altered another Marvel character into a new modern day/ non chemical, non magical day._

* * *

It was darker in here than it had been a few minutes ago. Wait, no, her eyes were closed. Struggling, directing her focus on her eye lids, they finally fluttered. It felt like they were sewn together, at least one side did. Her left eye opened but the right eye stayed as it was. The lashes hurt like they were being pulled when she struggled with it.

Her fingers slowly found her eye and rubbed gently at it. Her lashes were stuck together. She might have to see a doctor about this. There was having a little sleep in your eyes in the morning, and then there was having the crusty stuff caked all over your eyes. Maybe it was infected. The skin felt strange, too thick and unpleasant. She licked her fingers to get the moisture and persisted.

A bit more rubbing finally got her eye open even though flashes of color and traveling dots were all she saw at first. Her heart dropped to touch her spine when she looked at her fingers, dry flecks of red covering them. Her eye was bleeding! She was in a horror movie were the eyes started to bleed! Forget the doctor, she needed a specialist!

A low cry of pain erupted from her as she sat up far too quickly, her spine screaming at her. That really hurt! She really hurt! And a look around the room told her that she was not in her bed but some part of her mind had known that before now. The numbness in her skin made it so she could hardly tell what she was on but moving made sure she knew she did not like it.

This was a landing. This was not even her apartment building, those steps were wooden. She could feel how cold her limbs were and she shivered, only making her groan again from the new pain it stirred.

Where was her bag? She needed her bag.

Wait, she remembered, her bag was gone. That punk took it after she fell. A rotten little brat that did not even help her! She would hunt him down and beat him up for that later or she was not a Lewis! Punks did not go around taking a Lewis girl's bag and leaving them on the stairs! The Lewis girls were raised tougher than that.

Not that she felt too terribly tough at present, she felt more like a new born cat that had been thrown under a bus. She was shaking from the cold and from the pain all over her. Even sitting still made her hurt. It was so much worse than how she felt during a really bad cold, the ones where the whole body just ached, and you wished you would die so you could feel better.

When she clenched her fingers that hurt too. The joints ached and the knuckles of one were scuffed and bloody. Her really, really hated it when her hands got hurt, that was one of the worst things in life because you could not even write when your hands hurt.

Not eager for more pain, she did not even bother to touch her head. There was blood on her jacket, she observed with irritation; this was one of her favorites. Her stomach twisted when she noticed there was even more on the step and floor. How much had she lost?

Darcy slowly turned her head, neck creaking in her ears like an old door, to look around her. No one was around even though she called out a few times to test it. There were no sounds other than hers, she was on her own. Fine, she could take that! She was no weak little thing! She would walk out of this with her chin up! It could not be that hard.

A sharp gasp left her lips when she slid her legs around to get them in a position to stand. They hurt, they burned like molten lava was in her blood coming from her ankle and knee. Tears stung her eyes but she blinked them down. Forget standing, forget walking out, chin up _or_ down. No standing for her.

It might be easier to slide herself down the steps but a glance that way made her wary of falling again. Gravity might make going down easier but it might make it too easy. If she got dizzy on the trip down it might end badly. Crawling up the steps to the other door might be safer because she could be like a worm and stretch rather than like a slinky and fall. Yeah, no slinky stair travel for her again, once was too many. She hurt enough and did not want more.

A deep breath of cool air hit her lungs but did not make her feel any better. The floor was so cold it hurt even more to stay on it so she shifted to her other side before scooting up the steps. She hissed in irritation as her knees loudly protested being used. Her bones sounded like she was seventy!

She could do this! Her feet struggled and legs shook but after a good few minutes they were under her. She used the steps to crawl her way into a straighter position, clinging to the rail like a toddler learning to walk. Her breathing was coming in gasps after only that much and she was not even standing, just half kneeling, half leaning over the stairs.

She rested her hands on the steps, waiting for her heart to settle so she could begin the crawl. Her head was pounding and she could feel her pulse in her temples. Black clouded her vision a bit too quickly for her liking. The annoying feeling similar to snot running down her nose was on her forehead now and she knew she was bleeding again. Her arms were shaking like flowers in the wind and she felt the horrible sensation of bile rising in her throat. She was going to be sick. For how drained and lightheaded she felt she should have just climbed Everest!

Maybe she couldn't do this. Either way she went, the doors were about the same distance apart: too damn far! No, she needed a new plan unless she magically healed herself so she sank back down and let herself drape over the steps. It hurt, the edges pressing into her tender ribs, and she moaned.

It had never really been in her to whine and cry when she was hurt. Normally she just held her breath, but right now she could not hinder the whimpers coming from her chest. She hurt and she was stuck helplessly in an empty stairwell with no way out. She growled through the whimper in defeated frustration and rested her head gently on a part of the step that caused the least pain.

Stupid stairs! She was never taking them again!

All she wanted was to get out of them! Other places would be easy to move around in. After she was out she could get a cab and crawl into an elevator, which would lead her to her apartment and her tub. She needed a bath and in nice hot water and then she would be fine. A good long soak would be enough.

Her eyes widened as she spotted a beautifully familiar item in the very corner to the landing, pushed up and on its side like a stranded lifeline.

"Please, please, please be alive, baby! Mommy needs you! Don't be broken!"

Gingerly she eased herself down all the way and scooted very slowly over to it. Her bag had landed there and it must have fallen out. She remembered unzipping the pocket. Her taser was kept in that pocket but she almost always slipped her phone in that one too. Now she was desperately, sickeningly glad she did.

Her fingers wrapped around her phone like she had just found a treasure she had been searching for her entire life. It had a few dings in it but it was alive! There was a God! He did still hand out miracles! She would have to remember to say a prayer of thanks after this was over, seriously!

When she pushed to button the screen came to a bright life. It told her the date and the time, just like it always did!

She nearly cried again when she saw her old friend and shocker down on the next landing; plus a pen, but she did not care about the pen. That friend would have to wait for her though, the phone was what she needed now.

The question was who to call. Who could come in here? It was 6:45 now and she left Odinson's office at 5:30.

She felt dizzy all over again. She had been in here that long? It did not seem that bad but her phone never lied to her.

Loki might have gone home right after her, and a lot of people would have left too, left for dinner if they planned to come back at all. There might not be anyone in the whole building. She only had Loki's office number, not his cell number. If he was not in the office she was not sure what she would do. That secretary of his always left for dinner at six so there might not be anyone to answer that phone.

All she could do was try. If he was there maybe he could help her out of here. Getting her coffee would not hurt either, that would be enough to give her the energy boost she needed to get home. She really needed to get home. He could help her. If he refused she would just call her baby sister and she would yell at him in her scary way, then he would help her. That girl was great but she was a freaky little thing when she wanted to be, pulled off crazy like she owned all the stock on it.

The phone ring buzzed in her ear and made her cringe. She hated that sound!

"Loki Odinson." A bland, irritated sounding voice answered after a terminally long bunch of rings.

"Hey! You're still there!" She smiled, relaxing against the wall, "I was afraid you might not be."

"Ms. Lewis? Did you forget something?"

"Nope, but I could really use a favor." Darcy noticed her speech was slow and a little slurred so she focused harder on forming the words on her lips, squeezing her eyes shut in concentration, "See, I'm in your stairs right now. I think I'm not going to be able to get out." She trailed off for a minute, humming a whine as her head span, "I was going home but then there was this kid on the stairs and I think he pushed me, maybe... I... it's fuzzy. I dunno but I fell, see, and-"

"You fell?" Loki interrupted, sounding much less lethargic than before.

"Yeah." Her anger spurred her on, "Yeah, and that little punk stole my bag! He straight up took it! There were...are laws, you know!" She whined again and let herself slide back down to the floor as the pain in her head increased, "I don't feel so good. My head... I think it's going to fall off."

* * *

The floor dropped out from under him quite suddenly as he listened. She sounded drunk and he could hardly understand her, he had to listen carefully to each word. He was out of his office the minute he heard the terrible word "fell" and he was swishing through doors as quickly as he could without running. If he heard her right, someone attacked her on the stairwell.

If she had been leaving when she was attacked that meant she had been down there quite a while. That was a lot of time for an attacker to do a lot of things. For all he knew she was bleeding to death in his building. He would never live that down, a young girl killed right under his nose! Not a good thing to have on any resume.

And ... he could not say he really _wanted_ her to die anyway. He did not really want to ask how badly she was hurt for fear of the answer. She sounded like she was crying now so he needed to get her talking. Her head hurt so that meant head trauma, possibly a concussion, so he needed her to keep talking.

"What floor are you on? Which level?"

"I... dunno. I just want to go home." She mumbled into the phone, but she was sounding farther away.

"Above the doors, there are numbers. Tell me what number you are close to." He was trying to sound commanding so she would do ask he asked.

"I don't know. Everything is too far away. I don't remember."

If this was a prank he would strangle her when he found her. He really did hope it was a stupid prank though. It was not funny at all, but he would rather it be a lie. A few rare, brave souls tried to pull of tricks against him every once in a while, which was a poor choice. Thor was usually the one that cajoled people into trying to match wits with him.

"Listen, Darcy, I'm coming to find you, so just sit still, understand?"

"Yeah, I am. I already tried to leave earlier and it didn't work too great." The phone clacked loudly in his ear like she dropped it but she was back a minute later, "When you come, could you help me get a cab? Is there still coffee, do you think?"

Loki was in the stairs, his feet a blur as he descended. He was being quick but he was also being careful not to end up joining her in her predicament. "Alright, we can look for coffee in a little while."

Several flights down and he spotted her over the railing. His stomach dropped to his toes when he saw her curled up on the ground. He moved even faster now as he stared down at his target, assessing it as he came closer. There was something on the steps that he had a very bad feeling was blood. He gasped when his foot connected with something and sent it flying. It flew down the steps and rolled to a full stop before he realized it was one of her shoes.

That was at least a full flight worth of a fall if her shoe was an indicator. People died from falls like that. Loki slowed, suddenly afraid to know what he was about to find below. He could see her just fine from this distance and he was not keen on more. She heard him though and slowly turned her head toward him. The right side of her face was streaked with blood, her jacket was ripped from the seam at the sleeve, her hair was a mess and bunched in her face.

"Hey..." She smiled up at him, a bloody gash on her lower lip making it look painful.

Before he even realized he moved, he was kneeling beside her, not sure where to touch her or if he should try, "Darcy."

There were big, ugly bruises already marring her legs. Her skin was so pale in comparison. Her skirt was bunched up higher than would have been comfortable and he was instantly worried about what more than a fall and stolen bag could have happened since she left his office. He was afraid to ask. Very carefully he let his hand rest on her arm. She was trying to look at him but her eyes rolled, obviously unfocused. "Where do you hurt?" His timid sounding voice surprised him but she did not seem to notice.

"All over." She muttered softly, "My head hurts. I want to go home." Her blue eyes pinned him with a pitiful stare, "Please, could you help me get home?"

"Soon. First we need to see how badly you are hurt. I can take you to a hospital, and then home." He knew he should have phrased that differently the minute it left him because there was a sheen of fear in her eyes.

She started trying to sit up and he began to panic, "No, no, no." He crooned, moving closer, "Just stay still."

Darcy however, did not stay still, she was determined to sit up. She was starting to realize she was hurt more seriously than she thought, he could see it in her eyes. He was not helping the situation, he was sure she had seen the apprehension in his face. Comforting people had never been his strength; terrifying, but not so much calming.

He slid in quickly, shifting fully onto the floor and tugging her against his chest so he could hold her still. She tried to wriggle away from him but he held her in with both arms gently circling her. There was no way to know how badly she was injured but anyone could tell she should not be thrashing.

His mother knew how to comfort her sons when they were hurt. If she were here with Darcy she would know exactly what to do, she would be calming her down like an expert, not saying the wrong things. Thor said Loki was more like their mother but Loki had never agreed. They were similar in some ways but she had people skills he never would. True, he could talk Scrooge into buying five mansions to house the homeless, but when it came to tenderness he found he was lacking. People trusted his mother because she was kind.

Loki licked his lower lip, a bad habit he had when he was thinking out of his element, "Darcy, relax. It's alright." He needed to think of what his mother would do. "You're cold, aren't you? Why don't you just sit with me for a minute and let me warm you up a little? I will take my jacket off and you can use it."

Darcy stilled and tipped her head back, laying it on his arm as he held her up, "No way."

Loki frowned, "Why not?"

"You'll stick me with your dry cleaning bill."

He could not help laughing, just glad to hear she had not lost her senses completely, "Do you think I would do that?"

"I know you would!" She crinkled her brows and stared up into his face, "You smell good though, like oranges and wood chips. Better than Pledge though, not like that, more expensive."

He huffed an airy chuckle, grinning at her, insanely relieved because jokes he could deal with, "Do I? I'll make sure I wear this every day you are here then, as long as you promise to wear that stuff you had on the first day."

"Hairspray?"

"No, no, the perfume." He needed to keep her talking till he knew what to do with her. "What were you wearing?"

She might have been joking and still her sarcastic self, but she was not well and good. Her eyes were glassy and unfocused. Judging by the hideous gash on her head he was very sure she had a concussion. There could be any number of broken bones but the bleeding wound on her head was the most obvious issue.

It would be faster if he just drove her to the hospital. If he was careful, he could get her to his car and take her there himself.

"That was my ginger stuff. I can't remember it's name." She shifted slightly in his arms and winced, sounding strained when she spoke again, "But my friend's cat hates it. She always bites me when I go there and have it on."

"Well, wear it tomorrow so you can tell me the name."

She reached a battered hand up and clutched at his lapel, "I'm tired... I need some coffee to perk me up. Can we get some?" Her eyes widened and she groaned forlornly, "Shit, that guy took my bag. Loki, he took it, now I can't buy coffee!"

"Don't worry," He cooed quickly, noticing she looked ready to cry, "I promise, I will buy you coffee. It's alright." Her distress was misplaced, if you asked him. Coffee was not the problem here.

Darcy whined and pressed her face into his chest, "I'm not a freeloader!" She sounded very much like a whining child.

"You can buy the coffee tomorrow. We will be even then, right? I know a place a few blocks down the street, I'll drive you there." He needed to keep her happy for the moment, he needed to get her to a hospital whether she wanted to go or not so a coffee run was as good a lie as any.

He glanced down, finally realizing as his fingers clenched that he still had his phone in his hand. He never even hung up with her, they were still connected, he could hear the strange delayed murmurs of their conversation. The noise had not even struck him until now. He pressed the button and his heart sank when he noticed the time. This would be rush hour traffic, everyone going home, going out, or returning to the office with business partners after a bite to eat. There was no way he could get her there quickly at this time of the day.

An ambulance needed to be called but he could not call them while she was with him, it would only upset her. He just calmed her down. For now, he needed to get her closer to the door. Once he called the paramedics they would need to be able to find her. He needed to get away from her so he could call but leaving her on the steps was a bad idea. They were one flight shy of the parking level underground. She had been so close to home that is was sickly ironic. A little more and she might not have met that kid at all.

* * *

She felt like she was swimming under deep, dark waters. Talking to Loki was difficult, which worried her considering talking was never normally so difficult. Now it took energy, everything took energy. She drew in a shaky breath and stared up into his worried green eyes. This would have to be surprise number two of the day. In her wildest dreams she would not have ever expected him to hold her for any reason. He was a far cry more gentle than she would have guessed, holding her like people would hold a baby.

She could feel the warmth coming from his arms and his chest and she unconsciously snuggled into it. It felt extremely good after being forced to sit on cement for so long. Being here, no matter how strange, felt safe. Loki was the last man she would have expected to feel safe with, and maybe it was her cold skin talking, but it was true in the moment. She did want out though, the scenery was not the best by a long shot. She needed coffee to wake herself up. She must have been working too hard lately because she felt drained. Yeah, she fell, but not all that far when she looked at how fast he came down here.

When she was younger she fell off her bike a lot and it was never anything that bad. She always got up and brushed herself off, no harm she could not shake off.

"I guess." She mumbled against his neck, "As long as it's a good coffee house and not one of those ones that have the drunk coffee and never clean."

"I think you will like it." He carefully tugged her skirt down into a wrinkly-free form like it normally sat on her but she barely noticed.

Her eyes drifted shut and she whimpered when he shifted his weight, "My head really hurts." It felt like her head might explode and snap off her shoulders at any time.

"I know." He reached up and tenderly stroked the back of her head, his fingers moving in little circles through her hair. He was very gentle with her, tucking her head lightly under his chin as he cradled her. "Just relax and it won't be so bad." She could fall asleep to that voice.

Loki shifted but she took no particular notice of it until he began lifting her. Darcy squeaked, eyes wild as she felt the ground drop away to leave only his arms. Normally she was not easily frightened but the sensation was too similar to falling. The way he lifted her, moving to his feet with the kind of elegant dexterity a lion brought down prey with would have impressed her normally. She clutched at him while he whispered soothing words into her hair.

He was much stronger than he looked, lifting her _and_ standing up like it was nothing. His slender, lanky looking build belied the power hiding under the expensive attire and perfectly crafted tie. Agile though he might have been, it did not stop her heart from racing. The pain in her knees and legs amplified considerably. She was being a wimp but she clung to him all the more to ground herself and stuff down the tears. He easily descended the steps like carrying a girl around was second nature.

"Wait! My phone and my taser are still on the stairs." Darcy protested, sounding weaker than she expected, "I can't lose those, I'd die."

"I will go back and get them in just a moment, after I take care of you." He assured her, not seeming phased by it.

The crash bar made a sickening crack as he slammed it with his hip and whisked her out into the hallway. Her stomach rolled in protest to the motion and she tried to ignore it, hoping she did not end up getting sick on him after he was being kind. The overhead lights traveled past her and forced her to squint as they passed in quick procession. Watching the tiles and lights go by had a hypnotic affect on her and she withered in his strong arms. He headed for the floor's employee lounge next the the lobby. It was nicer than the lobby with overstuffed couches and chairs and a large fridge.

She was limp in his arms now as he walked in, the energy it had taken to freak out was more than she had to spare. Not a sound left her as he delicately placed her on a long couch, barely even jostling her as he slid his arms out from under her and straightened. Just as quickly, with a look over her body, he turned away.

Dread filled her when she realized he was about to walk away, "Wait..." She immediately tried to sit up, grabbing at the air space he had vacated, "wait, don't leave me, please?"

Loki turned back, "I will only be a moment, I promise." The soft backs of his fingers slid up and down the good side of her face, lulling her into closing her eyes, and then he vanished.

Fast little bugger, she thought, grinning to herself. Any other time she would not have had faith in his promises but her muddled mind trusted him implicitly. He would be back and he left her in a safe, warm place. If he had tried to leave her in the stairs that would have been different, but here she felt like she was on a cloud. This was exactly what she needed. A few minutes here and she would be back to her old self.

* * *

Hands were running over her body, hands that did not belong to her. Darcy frowned, but the tug in her skin it caused made her whine. Were those Loki's hands? Her mind was having a lot of trouble bringing her past the thick fog. Her eyelids were heavy, so heavy and they hurt. Everything was so heavy, even her ribs were so heavy it was hard to breathe. It was that feeling again, like being so far past drunk she might as well have been dead. She hated it, hated this.

Her lips felt disconnected when she tried to speak, "L-Lok-i?"

The hands did not stop. They were moving her, pushing on her, poking at her. What was happening? The poking hurt, she did not like it. Her arm lifted slowly to bat away the offender but another hand caught hers very gently, fingers pressing on her wrist. Her eyes opened enough to see light past her lashes and a blurry shape beside her.

"Ma'ma, just relax. We are going to take good care of you, don't worry." A strong, smooth, but slightly edged male voice told her, "Can you remember where you are?" He sounded exactly like her Ken doll always did in her head, gentle but rugged at the same time.

She willed her eyes open and blinked to clear the blur, trying to sit up, "What?" Her eyes fell first on a wide, muscled set of shoulders in a short sleeved, button up shirt that looked too starched to be comfortable.

"Ma'ma, do you know where we are?" Large hands cautiously took her shoulders and guided her back down.

She looked up to search for eyes and she found shocking blue pools staring back, baby blues a lighter, more vibrant blue than hers, "Odin's Ink... Guard... Adgard." He was statuesque, his face structure like sculptor's would be proud of, sandy blonde hair topping it off and looking very Angel Gabriel-like.

"Can you tell me your name?" He persisted, handsome features half smiling but half grave.

"I'm Darcy, Darcy Lewis." She stuck her hand his way for introduction, and he took it lightly between his fingers, "How about you?"

"I'm Steve, Ma'ma. I'm here to help you, okay?"

"Help me what? I just want coffee." A light went on in her head and she tried to sit up again, "Oh! You're a barista! Loki said we could go to a posh coffee place but I didn't expect it to be this good." She smiled, more than pleased to see the customer service had to be the best in town. No matter how much this place cost, she was coming again to admire the servers!

A chuckle huffed past his lips, "Not quite, Ma'ma, but I'll see what I can do for you anyway." He kept her down with one hand splayed over her collar bone. "Now, do you think you can tell me where you are feeling the most pain right now?"

Darcy paused, staring at him while she thought about it, there were a lot of pain spots but he wanted to know what hurt most, "My head."

"Which side it is? Can you describe how it feels?" He spoke so tenderly she forgot to think about why he was asking these questions.

She touched her face, "This side, and down my neck, and my back. It feels like it's going to explode and fall off."

He peeled something like tape and reached up, carefully running something wet over her face, making careful trails to the gash in her scalp. "So, Darcy Lewis, how did this happen to you?"

"My bag was stolen." Darcy shied away from the touch, shifting into the couch back and pitifully pushing at his hand, "That's cold, stop." She muttered at him.

He captured her hands in one of his and continued cleaning, unfazed by her order, "How did you get hurt? Do you remember anything about it?"

"I was going home and I took the stairs." Her anger flared again and she proceeded to tell him in detail what she had seen, even about the hooddie. By the time she was finished he had put something else cold on her and taped a bulky bandage onto her head. He worked patiently even though she squirmed as much as possible.

"Are you the police? Are you going to find my bag? I need it!" She whined.

"No Ma'ma, I'm not a police officer, but I am in the army reserve, if that helps."

Darcy frowned again, making the clear tape crinkle and feel even more strange, "The army? Why is the army here?"

"They aren't, just me and my buddy that is talking to Mr. Odinson in the hall. I'm just here to get you feeling better."

"Oh." She was feeling sleepy again suddenly, but with his poking a prodding at her there was no way to sleep, "I want to go home."

"After I make sure you are up to your very best." He flashed a small light into her eyes and she yelped, squeezing them shut in protest. His fingers pried them open again, "I just need to see your pretty eyes better, just for a second."

"Your eyes are prettier than mine, look at those." She began to thrash and he was suddenly leaning almost totally over her, though not touching her, cooing soothing words to her the way Loki had. It worked and she stilled; what girl could refuse faces like those two when they were asking nicely would be quite the question.

"What year were you born?" He shot the question at her randomly, still staring deeply into her eyes.

She smiled up at him, "If you want a date and are trying to see if I'm legal, there are better ways to put it. Never ask a girls age right out."

A sweet, boyish smile returned hers, "Will you indulge me this once?"

"19...17... 22." Her expression feel as she worked to find the right numbers. "23-7-10... no, that was my building code." Those were wrong, she knew they were, and panic balled in her stomach. "No, I know this."

"It's alright, you had a point, a gentlemen never asks a lady her age."

* * *

Loki watched out of the corner of his eye as the Paramedic effortlessly slid Darcy onto a stretcher. She looked like a doll being moved around so easily. She had nearly been dead weight in his own arms, limp as could be. He did not like the expression on the blonde's face. He was smiling for Darcy as he spoke to her but there was worry on his face. Her injuries could have been worse than they looked.

The dark haired one with him now had already chided him for moving her without them. He understood the point but he could not have left her in the dirty, cold stairwell. Maybe he should not have moved her but it seemed right at the time.

Being drilled had always annoyed him but he found himself strangely meek to the questions now where he would normally fight the young know-it-all kids like these. He had not even been snarky, which was so rare for him. Instead of showing the kid who owned this place, he watched the girl and responded very little. There was not much he could say, he had not noticed much past the blood but he had been able to offer her likely fall distance and her state when he found her.

The dark haired, square jawed boy left him then, helping get her into place and the two began wheeling her out. Loki stood in silence, arms folded and expression blank as he watched. They were good at their job, he could say that much. She looked less near death with the blood cleaned away but her little body was far more helpless strapped to that metal contraption.

Her eyes captured him as she moved by, her tiny voice hooking him and reeling him in by an invisible string the minute she said, "Loki... what is happening?" He was walking beside her even though he did not realize it.

"They are taking you to the hospital, just to make sure you are feeling alright." He forced a smile when he saw the dread in her eyes, "I really can't have you missing any work, you know, so we have to make sure you are at your peek."

"But we were going to get coffee..."

"We still will." He assured quickly, following as they pushed the cart outside.

"I want to go home." She looked at him, pleading more with her eyes and tone that her word choice, "Can't you take me, I'll pay for gas, I swear."

"You will be fine, Darcy, just let them help you." His heels dug in when the doors to the ambulance opened and he backed away.

Her hand shot out of the blanket, reaching for him, "Don't leave!"

The blonde caught her hand even as they lifted her, pushing it back down to keep her from bashing it on the door.

"I will be right behind you." Even as he said it his chest tightened at her whine of "no" and he had no idea why he felt so guilty. He had done what he could for her, even if they let him ride along he would only be in the way. They would probably give her something to calm her down anyway so she would be fine in a few minutes. She was just disoriented and clinging to the only familiar figure available.

He squared his shoulders. This was out of his hands and no longer his problem. Everyone would say he did everything he could do for her. This was not his problem. He had only known her a few days and she did not even technically work for him. There was no reason to feel guilty.

"Hey," The blonde poked his head through the double doors, "you can ride with her if you want to. It might keep her calm."

Loki hesitated, shuffling his feet as he stared at the EMT. He should not go along, should not even bother going to the hospital at all, he had people for those trivial matters. It would ruin his reputation if he kept up the meek behavior for much longer. No, he would not go with her. His mind told him no but his feet had already started moving him forward.

"No," He dug his heels in again, "I would only be in the way."

The blonde nodded and slammed the door shut. The ambulance pulled away abruptly and left him to watch it retreat over his parking lot. His brow furrowed more and more as it vanished. It was a good idea to stay. There was just no way he could let people hear that he was getting soft and holding her hand. Sentiment caused problems that he simply did not need.

Loki turned to his car and walked toward it briskly.

He should have gone with her.

* * *

AN: Ok, so no, Darcy was not thinking totally rationally. The obvious thing is to call 911 but when you're out of it, sometimes you really think that all you need is to get home. You fixate on that, the safety of home and it turns into the cure all. Not everyone thinks to call a doctor thinking it could not be that bad. She wasn't supposed to be quite rational, she had head trauma. I also see Darcy as being a hospital hater, not wanting to be a patient. So that was my thinking in her not directly calling for EMT's. It was not just so Loki could save her, though I dooo love the whole idea of him playing rescuer for her.

I know I said Stark would be back in this chapter but it was getting so long I had to split the chapter. He comes back next time, sorry! Hope you like the new intro though! Steeeeve!


	6. Impact

**~=High Rise=~**

_Impact_

_*Marvel_

_*Loki Odi__nson, Darcy Lewis, Tony Stark, etc._

_AN: May I suggest you guys listen to "Wicked Game" by Stone Sour? I kind of think it fits dear Loki in this chapter but others in the future too._

* * *

The drive over was made long by traffic light after traffic light, but more so by his mind's constant belligerent contradicting banter. His lungs were heavy like lead as he pressured the gas petal, turning the wheel several different ways while he struggled with his angels and demons. Turns and twists that were quite unnecessary could have mapped out the tracks of his mind and utter indecision. He had turned off the street to the hospital and back onto it fifty times at least, he was relatively sure, even if he had not dared count them.

Loki inhaled deeply and let it go again in a heavy sigh of self induced exasperation and a Titanic sized ice block of self-loathing; self loathing was not exactly foreign, at least, but the nagging worry was. He made up his mind several time not to come, yet here he sat, sprawled in a waiting room chair just a little distance from the desk on the floor he was told to go to. The little old woman on the first floor had almost refused to give him information, but a few notches more of his charm finally convinced her to tell him where the pitiful girl working as a spy would be treated.

He shifted again in the stiff, plastic covered chair, crossing one leg over the other before he tossed it back onto the floor. He could not hold still, fidgeting like a child waiting for a punishment. Being here was the last thing he should be doing, it was a poor choice and even as he sat here he berated himself for coming. If anyone found out the rumors would be intolerable but the image of her fearful eyes pleading with him not to leave her pulled him back despite his efforts to flee. He left her once and should have remained gone but he simply had to know if her condition improved.

Worry or concern were not words he could or would place on this feeling nagging and teasing the back of his consciousness, tying his stomach into a few irritating knots. His mind conjured many wonderfully logical reasons for his ending up here, all of which he was happy to adopt. It was a good skill for times like these when he knew he caved to chinks in his impenetrable armor but he had no desire to admit it. He could lie even to himself when he needed to do so. It was less degrading to remember he was dodging bullets from S.H.I.E.L.D. by staying on top of the situation, watching his back against wrongful blame and his best interest.

"The waiting room is right around the corner, Ms. Potts." A single name the blonde with irritatingly bright pink highlights in her hair spoke conversationally had him sitting in a relaxed posture instantly, making sure to look as at home here as he would behind his own desk, a mild scowl on his face to be sure that was the greeting his adversary's little pet would arrived to.

A snarl nearly bubbled up in his throat when that nagging voice reminded him he should have sent his assistant instead. All the little voices telling him to turn around on the drive were sneering at him as he stared at the corner, just waiting for the petite, arbitrarily graceful, strawberry-blonde to march herself in.

Some childish part of him wanted to crawl under the seat or bolt from the room before she could see him and report back to Stark but he was here and no one was going to force him to run. Loki did not run like a coward, he was always in control regardless of the situation.

Her perfected smooth tail of hair swayed as she walked in on high, clicking heels, eyes grazing over him for only a few seconds before landing instead on a set of open seats. No measure of surprise flashed in her eyes, no remnant of shock lingered in her delicate features hidden in her first sight. If she had not known who he was it would have been believable as simply glancing at a random stranger in any given room. Pepper Potts, however, knew everyone that had ever been a threat to Tony Stark, knew their face, address, favorite drink, and the last song played on the radio station they listened to. She was not one to be trifled with, the true reason Tony Stark could never be touched even if she received little credit.

Loki swallowed back a shocked gasp when a pinstripe dark vest and slacks, and heavily polished shoes followed a few steps behind her. Poker had always been his game. Emotional reactions when in games of gambling and business were his forte. The liar's liar was never easily undone so he never so much as twitched, bored and hostile expression solid as a stone.

Stark strolled into the bleach white and hideous mint room, hand absently running over his good boy with a bad edge haircut. "You look uncharacteristically worried, Odinson." He too did not bat an eye at the presence of an enemy.

Loki watched the other man amble toward him, a darker glare threatened to surface, but he pushed it aside for a stoic mask. It unsettled him to have been caught here. It felt like the times his mother had been called to the disgustingly ridged school for wealthy brats to find him sitting in detention. Having anyone see him waiting in a hospital to see how that girl was felt like being caught at something unscrupulous. "I am worried." Loki remarked blandly as he leaned back in the uncomfortable chair, "If I neglect to tread carefully, I know you and Fury will have her sue me, which I would find annoying."

Stark grinned at him, trimmed and sculpted beard crinkling, one side of his mouth tilting more than the other, "Good, I was worried she was growing on you and that just would not fit my idea of you. Loki going soft is foretold to be the sign of alien invasions."

Loki chuckled derisively, letting his fingers fall relaxed over to stiff edge of the armrest, "Sorry, but no one grows on me. I keep the ground even and simply hate everyone. I'm here only to head off any repercussions." He shot a pointed glance at Pepper, "I am not so easily tamed by the feminine cunning as _other_ men."

"So, speaking of repercussions, how did she fall?" He dropped into a seat opposite Loki-next to the personification of women in business that watched over him like a lioness-and arched a brow, tenting his fingers. "Slick floors? Because I could really work with that."

Ignoring the jab, he pursed his lips into a line, "Some desperate vagrant stole her bag and pushed her down a few stairs. He probably expected a lawyer to carry a fair amount of money, which proves his stupidity since we all know no lawyer would make it so easy."

Tony laughed again and shook hid head in affirmation. "Can't deny that point." Even Pepper smirked lightly.

Loki turned an accusatory eye on Stark, "And why are you here? If anything I thought you would send Ms. Potts ... but a personal appearance by both? How _will_ your company survive the separation?"

Tony shrugged dismissively, "Similar reason. If she died on me I'd have to find someone else to send you. Getting anyone willing to visit the devil is no easy task. The kid has spirit, and I hate losing that."

Loki nodded shortly and cast his eyes toward the desk to show clearly that he no longer cared if they were there or not. Stark did not listen well to social cues.

"So, speaking of our little gal, how bad was her tumble? Step count included in your 'few steps' incident report?" Brown eyes were fixed below Loki's chin.

Loki rolled his eyes up to watch a flickering long bulb in desperate need of changing. "Why ask me? I did not see her descent, I only saw the result."

"How severely was she injured, Mr. Odinson?" The even and steady as an artist's hand voice chipped at him as she finally broke her silence.

"A few scratches and a likely unpleasant bump on her head." He shrugged as if uninterested and fully bored, still refusing to look at them, "I am many things, but a doctor is not one of my skills. Ask her physician if you wish to know."

A low huff left Stark as he dramatically crossed his arms, "Just a bump? Then you must be a bleeder when you shave, huh?"

His eyes turned to drill into brown orbs, "Excuse me?"

"Your shirt." Pepper interjected before Stark could answer with what looked to be a derisive comment if his expression was indication. "We were told you were the one to find her and remove her from the stairs."

Exactly how did she know information like that this swiftly? A little network of schlemiels hacking his surveillance cameras no doubt, his mind snarled as he glowered her direction before glancing down at himself. A jolt hit his gut when the red stains gleamed bright against the crisp why of his shirt. He never even noticed them, never looked down at his collar and his chest where her face brushed against him, never saw the streaks of blood where she grasped at his lapel. A wave of nausea threatened to ball in his throat and he twitched in his seat. "Well, thank you for pointing that out." He glanced up again, eyes cold and carefully unfeeling, "I will send you my dry cleaning bill."

"How did you jump to the conclusion _I_ would pay for that?" Stark leaned back languidly, "It's not _my_ blood."

"Might as well be considering she is your little puppet." Loki snapped, nearly baring his teeth, anxiety surfacing the way it generally did, taking the form of easy anger.

"That can come out of her next check." Tony sneered dryly. "I'm not the Odinson charity fund. You want hand out's try the government."

"Oh, and they call me cold?" Narrowed eyes leered at the smug expression of the other man.

"Save her a buck and pay for it yourself, Frosty."

"Boys!" Pepper barked, drawing their attention as she pointed to the nurse patiently standing on the sidelines.

The fight in the air filtered out through the air vents in the floor as the two men deflated and stared expectantly at the dark haired, heavyset nurse in butterfly scrubs. A clipboard dangled in her fingers as she eyed them blandly. The look on her face, void of capacity to smile, said she had witnessed a great many fights in this hospital and could not even care less who the men in suits were as long as they shut their lips long enough for her to speak. She was the cold, war hardened, desensitized sort with the feel of death clinging to her very skin, having clearly seen all manner of things and ceased long ago on caring.

"Ms. Lewis is stable but the doctor intends to keep her here overnight for observation due to the head trauma and moderate blood loss. Only two visitors are allowed in the room at one time. She is medicated though, so she may or may not be terribly responsive." That said, she turned and began walking away, "If you want to see her you may follow me."

Pepper and Tony turned to look at him as one, like a business chic hydra.

He splayed his hands to the side amiably, "Don't worry about me, I never intended to visit her, I just wanted the report."

They stood up as one, Pepper stepping ahead to follow, Tony pausing to glance at Loki, "I knew she was tough and hard headed. Guess I was right to send her ... someone else might not have survived you."

Unable to stop himself, Loki glared and spoke, needing the last word, "I doubt if she has had the worst from either of us. We have only begun so you should not count her a survivor just yet."

A wry smile cocked the corners of Stark's mouth, "Point ... but she is still alive, so I guess round one goes to her." He cast his eyes toward the vanishing Ms. Potts, "But I think we might be lucky to have her. I have a distinct feeling that I would end up blasting you with one of my inventions and you would end up tossing me out a window if we were forced to negotiate in the same room."

Loki's expression filled with a morbid amusement, "I could picture that last one quite well." His fingers locked together, "Let's see how long she can keep us from killing each other then."

"Agreed, we should wager on it later." Once again he began to leave, but paused without looking back, "By the way, you did not see her fall, is that your story?"

Hackles raised along his spine instantly, ire edging his voice, "Exactly what are you implying, Stark?"

Glancing back, he shrugged, "Nothing. See you around, Frosty." Stark turned and walked casually after his woman. "Try not to let her fall down an elevator shaft next time."

Loki's hands twitched hard and he wound them around the armrest for control. If Stark kept it up he would be slapping liable charges on his desk by the end of the week! Never push a man that had been pushed too many times unless a fight was the desired effect, that would turn a battle into a blood soaked bath.

* * *

The head trauma the nurse spoke about was tilting the scales more toward a near cracked skull than running into a door. Loki had fled the waiting room the minute the two were out of sight but he had not left. The little nurse was not the type of person he would trust to tell him the full story so he went in search of his own little bird, such as the young little girl with wide brown eyes and cheeks that blushed too easily when he smiled at her.

A few white lies and careful flirting got him exactly what he wanted. Information was all about finding the correct source, the weak link in the system chain of silence. Darcy would not be wearing heels to work for a while either, nor walking without a limp from multiple injuries to her lower limbs. Her hand writing might suffer if she was left handed thanks to two broken fingers, not to mention the shoulder dislocation likely caused in an attempt to hold the railing to catch herself.

In general, he discovered Tony's bel-esprit little spy would not be comfortable for quite a while, but she was lucky none the less. She could have died if she had fallen a little differently, hit her head a little harder, or been left alone all night. The thief had not violated her in any way beyond stealing her bag, which was quite a relief because he had been a little worried about that.

Loki ran his fingers through his hair and raked it into order as he stared at his reflection in a hallway mirror. He needed to burn his old shirt and tie. He also needed to make a few calls to increase the security in his building. Too many things were slipping by what existed at present and he did not like that one tiny bit. His building needed to be more fortified than Rome had been in its time. A king was only as strong as his defenses, his traps and checks.

He felt strangely shaken by the entire event, like what happened to her traveled in part to him in some residual way. A few too many Trojan Horses had slipped inside his walls and it left him feeling vulnerably gutted. Breathing slowly and more deeply did not help calm to nagging feeling in his chest. The strange sensations were not unfamiliar but mangled together enough that he could not pinpoint exactly what was askew. The entire catastrophe left a bitter taste in his mouth he could not rinse out.

It was dark outside after all this time, the little window in the hall only depicted blackness without a light near by to illuminate the street. He should leave and yet he still found himself prowling the halls like a ghost of some dead, unfulfilled visitor. Staying here was already crossing too many lines and going to see her would break even more. His eyes fluttered closed as he glanced at the two cups he purchased sitting tauntingly on the table. The first floor had a coffee shop and before he knew what he was doing he had been walking away with a cup for himself and a cup for her.

He had also purchased a new shirt in a shabby little shop to replace his blood stained one. The jacket should be salvageable since there was only a little smear or two on it but the shirt was a hopeless casualty of the day. He thought his tie had escaped the affair untouched only to fix it back into place and see the undeniable blemish in the green patter. Why he had not left after that frustrating discovery was a mystery. It was not as if he had a particular love of hospitals.

Part of him kept reasoning that it would be obtuse to go see her. He owed her nothing more than what he had already done. An influential man such as himself was obligated to no one and doing any more would do nothing to further his standing, thus it was useless. Then there was another voice that sounded suspiciously like hers lingering in the depths of darkness in his mind that reminded him of a promise he made to her. He could not shake her face from behind his eyes or her pleas from his ears.

Stark and company had left thirty minutes prior so he should go.

Darcy's phone and taser were still in his jacket pocket too, taunting him even further. He should drop them off for her at the nurse's station but there was a nagging piece of him that wanted to see her personally to put his mind at rest. Of course, he would not go to see her, enough time had been wasted skulking in the ammonia scented halls. Stark only went because Pepper probably forced him. No one visited lowly employees personally, they sent their second, third, or even fourth in command to do that.

This should be enough to quell his stupid nagging guilt, he did quite a bit to help her. Her attack was not his fault. It could have happened anywhere. Had she walked down any street in the city, it could as easily have happened there. Just because it was his building did not make it his problem. She was a grown woman and she worked for him, another ant in the massive colony he stared down at every day. A few days spent with her was not enough to bring her out of that lowly status of drones he could not bother to worry about, the walking numbers and statistics of people he could use.

A rumbling snarl drifted through his throat, his fingers moving to nimbly remove the knot in his tie and toss it forcefully in a trash bin. These same little conversations had been going through his head endlessly for some time, the dueling sides of him battling in circles. It was exasperating how his mind never let him simply rest, the devil played advocate to both sides of his mind.

The familiar tone of his phone bounced off the hard walls of the hall to make the sound that much louder. Loki snatched it from his jacket pocket and glanced at the name and number scrolling over the screen. Pure, undiluted rage bubbled in his chest and he snarled, nearly crushing the device between his fingers before vengefully hitting the ignore option.

A few seconds later and the scene replayed, Loki's rage amplifying as it happened a third time. He would not answer, he refused to bother with that stupid excuse for a man. He would not acquiesce to any of his miserable pleas, oh no! This too was not his problem! Things like these stopped being his problem the moment he cut himself off from boyish emotion and crossed the line into dominant authoritarian with the world at his feet. Call as much as he wished, but Thor would be ignored every time. The only reason he had yet to block that number was so that he would at least know when the oaf was trying to contact him and promptly ignore it.

He needed to bury the voices of his conscience in the depths on the dark corners of his mind. He needed to control those around him before they dominated him. Staying on top was a battle of wits and sleeping with one eye open every night. He had no time for family and no time for friends or loyalty. He had no desire to care because sentiment brought weakness.

He did not want to care ... so why did he feel so hollow when he ignored that ring or the weight of her items in his pocket? Weakness, that was the reason. Always weakness!

This was simply not his week, that was obvious! She should never have walked through his door.

* * *

Her waking thoughts were annoyingly following the same trend; focusing on one pain after another until it rounded to how her head freakishly hurt. Her entire body ached horribly but her head was the worst. Darcy felt like she had been run through one of those old, Little House on the Prairie style ringers for clothing. If she moved even a little pain would bounce from place to place, traveling through her entire muscle and nerve system. She was just not alright with this whole thing!

She was in the hospital and she really, really hated that! It was insult to injury that she was _here_ and still felt **this** bad. They could have the decency to make sure she did not know how much pain she was in if she had to be in this cold room with stiff scratchy blankets and a pillow that crackled every time she moved her head. There was absolutely nothing appealing about being here. A scream was just itching to come out of her throat but she knew it would only make her head hurt worse.

Screaming would be a poor choice anyway considering her chest ached and it was hard to gather the strength needed to expand her lungs for deep breaths. Darcy was fairly sure someone drained all her energy, every cup of coffee she had ever drunk, every soda or caffeinated thing she ever had in her entire life out of the cuts and holes in her body.

A new level of pathetic was feeling dizzy when nothing was even moving. The spinning room did not help her aching head either. She was glad, of all days, she had been in contacts rather than her glasses. It was hit or miss whether or not she put them on to go to work but she could not have been happier to have made the right choice today. The spinning was not doing great things for her stomach though, blurry vision or not.

Darcy fingered the blanket and tugged at the strings, mouth puckered in concentration. She got the feeling someone shook her and shook her until things had fallen out of her head. She remembered Gabriel, the sandy haired walking piece of art. She remembered little snatches of being with Loki during the day, remembered being in his arms, but only pieces like a mismatched puzzle. Things she_ knew_ she knew before were like pencil written words on cheap paper someone took an eraser to. It made her feel even more shaky.

This felt worse than when she had the flu and ear infection together for two entire weeks. It was depressing to be stuck in a white and tan room with a television that was too static filled to be worth watching. She could have been out dancing, not that she had gone dancing since college, but she would have had that option open if not for her tumble. Things always sounded irresistible when they were out of reach.

Maybe she should not complain. From what they had told her, she was lucky she lived. The huge and ugly glued shut gash in her head said that much, bruises did too. Guardian angels were looking out for this little girl, she guessed. She still owed God that prayer but she would give it when she was in less pain. She did not feel like talking to anyone at this point. The visit from Tony Stark and Pepper Potts had been a kind gesture but unnerving and overwhelming to say the least, leaving her feeling vulnerable and trapped in the tiny bed.

Stark's comments on her looks did nothing to help her feel better either, it made her feel worse. She did not want to be told how bad she looked or how bad the doctor said she was. What she wanted was to be told she could go home. What she wanted was not relevant. She was trapped in this bed until they decided she could leave.

She had not been raised to let others take care of her. Her parents did not coddle her or her sister, they were raised to be independent and self reliant. When she was contagious she stuck herself in a room with crackers and water to waiting it out. Her mother brought her soup, liquid, and movies but that was usually the extent of care. Both her parents wanted tough children because they said the world was already full of weak people that looked to be taken care of. She was fairly sure they secretly never wanted children to begin with and they would be damned if they raised whiny kids.

Tough children they had been too. Lewis girls never took any crap from anyone. Boys that pulled their hair got punched in the face. When Darcy got older, boys that tried to feel her up got a "shock" to the system. It worked better than any cold shower or harsh words ever could. It worked on the guy that tried to steal her car freshman year too.

Being tough was a good thing. Being tough was all she knew, but now she felt weak. Hospital beds with the beeping monitors and needles felt like walking, noisy helplessness. Worse still was one nagging memory of being loaded onto the ambulance, feeling so afraid and lost, calling out to Loki, of all people. She hoped it was only her mind playing tricks on her but she had a wicked feeling it was true. She remembered visceral terror at being left alone, which was not like her. Having been beaten once, she supposed her confidence had been shaken, her proverbial footing had been lost to leave her floundering. Humiliating! She was pathetic!

Her blue eyes lifted when she heard the door slowly open and softly close. The curtain around her bed was drawn to give her a tiny sliver of peace, however slight. That peace melted the second the curtain shifted to reveal familiar ink tresses, static green eyes, and a tall, lanky form. They stared in stunned silence at each other for what could have been an hour, each assessing the other silently. He entered the room like a sneaking purebred cat, so silent and careful like he did not want to be found slumming with the common house cat the neighbor owned.

His eyes dropped to the floor and she unconsciously reached a hand up and smoothed her hair in a pitiful attempt to look reasonable. Her hands began to shake in the stretching silence, unnerved by his towering figure compared to her prone little body. At least Stark was shorter than Odinson so it did not feel quite so servile. He still frightened her even without his desk and swords on the walls. Power radiated from his lithe form and posture like heat. She wanted to burrow into the bed so deeply he could never find her.

When he raised his eyes to her again, he swallowed, looking strangely young and timid. Two little lines creased between his brows as he stared as if expecting her to turn to ash any moment. Her shoulders relaxed as her fear of him melted, replaced by a need to placate. His lips were just slightly parted and something in her wanted to grab the soft, cute square of his jaw and shake his head back and forth till that look went away. When did this guy become so cute anyway?

Darcy smiled playfully at him to put him at ease, "So, I finally figured out my make-up for halloween." She pointed at her face, "What do you think? I kind of think I nailed it."

The corners of his lips twitched and the creases lessened, "Oh, definitely. It's remarkably convincing!" He arched one perfect eyebrow, "Does the bed work as a prop?"

She patted the hard mattress, "Well, yeah, I think it adds that certain je ne sais quoi of authenticity."

He smiled an honest, though hesitant smile and held out a coffee cup to her as he stepped closer, "I brought you this."

"Coffee?" She reached for it, careful of the wires connected to her hand and lifted it to her nose to breathe in the scented steam, "How did you sneak it past the jailers?"

A twinkle gleamed in his eye, "I made like a James Bond and sneaked right past them. Visiting hours are over too."

Darcy cocked her head, a rush of dizziness and nausea a quick result, so she clutched the cup closer, trying hard to smile at the blurry form, "You did not have to sneak me coffee."

"No," He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two items, "but I did need to return your belongings."

Her lashes fluttered as she tried to force her eyes to focus on the proffered offerings. She was doing her best to hide it but he must have noticed because he moved closer. He snatched the cup from her with his free hand and set it on her table; she did not know her shaking was so obvious but it must have been. There was a few drops of coffee on the white blanket to evince it. She mumbled a fast apology but he ignored it, placing the items in her open hand.

Her twisted brows turned up as she recognized the feel coupled with the sight, "My phone and my taser!" She glanced up and smiled, "Where were they?"

"On the stairs. You left them there when I carried you out, I was simply returning them to you."

Darcy swallowed thickly, trying to remember what he was referring to, "Thank you." Her smile was forced even as her vision clouded even further with tears welling in her eyes, tears of frustration, confusion and a little fear.

"It was nothing." He paused, studying her silently for a moment before he said, "You will be back to your old self, irritation myself and Stark after a little rest, don't worry."

She gripped the phone tighter with both hands but let go when the muscles in her two broken fingers screamed at her, forcing a hiss of pain out of her.

His hand drifted to cover her good hand, "Relax, Darcy. You were injured."

She ran her tongue over the scab on her lip, "I can't relax."

"You must. If you push yourself it will only cause you more problems." He sounded to sure, like a doctor.

"It hurts too much for me to just relax." She snapped, but it came out as more of a repressed sob, "I can't even close my eyes or I get even more dizzy than I already am." She jerked her hand away to swipe at a tear she could not believe she was shedding, "I'll be fine, I'm more angry with myself than anything. I can't believe I let this happen. I'm not normally so pathetic, I promise!"

"You were assaulted and injured, Darcy, it is normal to feel this way." Loki sat carefully beside her on the bed, not touching her.

"I don't remember very much about it." She confessed, hands resting uselessly in her lap with her possessions, not sure why she was talking to him or why he was patiently listening, "All I remember is his hoodie, just his stupid hoodie. I only turned my back for a second ... I should have tased him the second I saw him and been done with it."

His posture stiffened like he wanted to leave her, "What kind of hoodie? What else do you remember about him?"

"Nothing much. It was dark colored, navy probably, with the Nike emblem on the sleeve." Her head eased back to rest on the pillow, "Nothing useful. I'll never see my bag in this lifetime with that description. I'm absolutely useless, I know. I've lost the paperwork... my wallet..." She cringed as her mental checklist clicked by in her head.

"You're not useless." Loki said nothing for a moment, "It will be alright."

They feel into uncomfortable silence again until she reached for her coffee, using her good hand, ignoring other pains in her muscles, "Thank you for the coffee. I think I need it."

"You're welcome. It was all you could talk about on the stairs so I thought you deserved to get some." He said as he watched her take a drink.

It hit her tongue like a warm, smooth honey, running down her throat like medicine to her aching body, a fix to an addiction, "I already feel better now." She grinned at him, mainly able to see the finer points of his face, "You could make even more money going from room to room selling miracle lattes."

His eyes were shadowed with tinges of sadness even though he smiled, "It is the least I could do, really."

She hummed in disapproval as she took another drink, "Hey, no, this was better than Tony's visit! He did not bring me my best friends or life's blood. You already win best sneaky visitor prize."

"Well, at least I've bested him once today!" He grinned craftily, "I can sleep well tonight."

Darcy felt more calm, phone, taser, and coffee in her possession. It made her feel human again, still in pain, but more like normal. It was better than nothing. At least he gave her a little hope and grounding. "Thank you. I needed these. I feel more like myself now rather than a bleached out doll in a toy repair shop."

Loki reached a tentative hand up and brushed her hair to the side of her face with his fingers, making her nearly shiver at his warmth on her cold cheek, "Just hurry up and get back to work. I want you back on the project the second they let you out, and not a second after, understand?"

Darcy sniffed and chuckled, "Got it, boss. I'll report back for duty the second I break out, promise!"

He pulled back and stood to leave, "Rest well, Ms. Lewis, I will see you shortly."

Darcy did not say anything more as she watched his back. Part of her lingering fear wanted to call him back but she had suffered enough indignity for one day. She could never live down begging him to stay twice in one day. The curtain and door barely made a sound as he slipped out of her room. It occurred to her that he would make an marvelous spy if he wanted to be one.

She took another sip of her coffee, trying to grasp what had just transpired. Maybe it was her dizzy mind, medication, and blurry vision, but he seemed almost human while he sat on the bed with her. He tired to help her and that was more than she would have expected from him earlier in the week, or even earlier in the day. Then again, that might have been a hallucination. She would find out in the morning if her phone was gone.

Hugging her old friends to her chest, she nestled into the covers and closed her eyes, hopeful that tomorrow would have made this nothing more than a nightmare. A numbness had finally begun to fall over her and she relaxed, eyes heavier than ever. She did not want to think anymore.

* * *

Loki walked into the hallway again, moving away from any prying eyes and her room. His heart was hammering as he walked. She looked positively horrible, battered and bruised like a car accident victim. Her words repeated and circled in his brain until he already thought he might go utterly mad. A hoodie, she said. A stolen bag. The phone conversation he had during the day. Things could only add up one way.

Realization crashed down onto his shoulders like fifty pound weights. Loki backed against the wall for support, clasping his hands over his chest as all the air left the room. That girl could have died alone in the stairwell because of him and what he said in anger on the phone. She did not deserve that, no matter how she might irk him occasionally. They had struck yet again. Her bag had been stolen to see if the content held what they were looking for. It had been his fault after all.

Had he left her there with the intent to let her die? What would have happened if she had not gotten a hold of his phone? Would she have died because of this?

An icy chill ran up his spine. A worse question was what would happen if they _had_ found it. What if she did have it with her, then what? Would he be considered no longer useful? He did not want to know what they might do if he failed to be useful a second time. He did not want to consider how this would end if they possessed the plans for the Infinity project, Stark's invention, his program, the little pet project Fury and Tony had worked on in tandem. Stark inherited things from his father, and one of those things was an undefined program, he knew that much about it on his own.

They told him the rest of it. The Mad Titus Thanos and his associate told him about the Tesseract computer program and machinery. Part of it was a program that could control any other computer in the world, like an entire squad of hackers and computer geniuses in one, it could take control of even a highly protected government system in a few seconds. It's other purpose was power, the physical machinery of it could create power enough for at least twenty building without trouble. It was the end of all programs, the end of all power plants, and they wanted it. It had other functions, but used by them, it would be a weapon.

In the beginning, it sounded perfect. He knew that if he could gain such power, take over Stark's company before he could hide the program, the world would be his. He could take that power from Stark, that frightening power and never give it to Thanos at all. With a system like that one the road would open to him like never before. He had no plans to share it with anyone, least of all them, all he wanted was to use their help.

Darcy and this deal as well, were just a means to that same end. No one knew about that program, and he had no idea how Thanos discovered its existence, but it was something the big headed philanthropist would not hesitate to use to maximize his products, perhaps with a small version of the machine. Stark already used his invention, the Arc Reactor to power many of his buildings. The Tessaract was an advance version of that so it was reasonable to assume the now finished product would begin finding its way into Stark's enterprises. Through a deal he hoped to begin the processes of drawing the Tessaract from him while also sneaking his way into another hostile takeover. He would keep everything! That was still his plan but if they bypassed him and stole the plans from her, he was dead in the water.

This would be the end of everything he worked for! He had to know if they had it! He needed to find Thanos, needed to know.

Sliding his phone from his pocket, he swiftly dialed the number her memorized at least a year ago, waiting for the answer from the other end, "It's Loki. We might have a problem. I'm going to need you to snoop around a little for me tonight."

* * *

**AN:** Bam, there you go, more plot! Hope you enjoyed it! More fun to come soon!


End file.
